thelonious monk the life and times of an american original

Now, I understand that he would decompose chords by removing a few notes or flattening or sharpening one of them and that is one of the things (along with complex time signatures) that marked his work. I have always enjoyed listening to Monk, but never exactly understood why. It was an incredible read about a largely misunderstood genius. He wanted only Freedom - for himself and his People.Ī freedom that always retreated into a distant Ideal world, like his constrained bipolar vision.Ĭontinuing in my reading about jazz, I just finished the masterpiece Thelonious Monk by Robin D. No matter how carefree he seemed in his tunes. Of a man who always knows he's always gonna be CORNERED at the end. They're the angst-driven cries of victimhood. Those aren't missed notes he's playing on his piano. So original he has to be HEARD to be believed. Now, thankfully, my outlook has mellowed, for my constraints are no longer outer but inner - with advanced neuroleptics - and I have, as the great Rene Girard says, accepted the constraints that go with being different, a victim of bad luck.īut his music! He's the Grandma Moses of modern music. So Thelonius appropriately sounds like he's always chomping at the bit.Īs I did back in 1970. We Never make it to our golden dream (at least, not in this life).īack then, though, the tranquilizers were tough to take. We bipolar guys always see Eldorado beckoning before our limping sight.

So his music is frank - yet it found itself constrained by necessity into a tight little box - from which he always wanted to escape.

And he always sought ways to make his music perenially NEW, because that was the way his inner life expressed itself. Kelley loves Monk's music, and wow, does it show. This is a must-have book for music lovers.

Thelonious monk the life and times of an american original