The van gogh of jazz.

The hippest human being who ever walked the earth. His utter greatness can never be overestimated. Listening to Monk ensures human happiness.

@dme1016

3 жыл бұрын

Kind of going overboard there a bit, chief, aren't you? Monk was Monk, which had it's uniqueness, but nothing more than that. Really vad optics when he played....hands that looked frozen. Somehow, he made it work.

@josephwitkowski6665

3 жыл бұрын

Amen!

@kieronjohnson8834

3 жыл бұрын

@@dme1016 Not too sure Monk gave too much of a damn about 'optics', vad , bad or any other kind. You are right about Monk being Monk and thus unique, well spotted.

@TheophilusBoone

3 жыл бұрын

@@dme1016 He wasn't an Art Tatum or Bud Powell, not an Oscar Peterson or Bill Evans, but Jesus!! He was the most original composer ever. Maybe I just haven't got a clue, but I can't find anything to rival him.

@dme1016

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheophilusBoone Nothibh wrong with that. His chord progressions were definitely unique. Last year though,, we lost (too soon) the absolutely brilliant Lyle Mays, a man who would've been seen as an all-time keyboard great....had he lived 50 years ago & was black. I love jazz history, and I personally would put Lyle at the top as a pianist. He inverted his inverted inverted chords, but we could still understand the flow. With Monk it was sometines like....???

❤ I remember first hearing Thelonious Monk when I was very small. My dad would spin Solo Monk in his car. I think Thelonious is a great introduction to jazz and music in general for a toddler. He had such a playful manner at the keys and I think that kids can relate to that. It simply SOUNDS like fun.

@johnsononey

2 ай бұрын

Some of my friends think Monk sounds like Sesame Street on LSD , but they just dont get it , and Im glad .

The greatest gift America ever gave to the world; JAZZ! Bird, Trane, Monk, Hawk, Dolphy, Billy, Duke....list goes on and on. ALL geniuses

@kerrywinter3973

3 жыл бұрын

Shit....forgot to mention Mingus and Miles: M+M

At around the time of “The British Invasion” circa 1964, I bought my first LP, “Monk’s Dream.” Never looked back.

Monk dancing behind Rouse is time capsule material.

@eseoraka

3 жыл бұрын

For real... i thought those steps were ahead of their time... then again, His music is timeless.

Hearing Monk taught me to leap joyously into the void.

The word Genius gets thrown around a lot but this is one.

@lesterfalcon1350

2 жыл бұрын

My dad is a complete jazz head, 82 now. He's like a walking encyclopedia of Jazz. He named my brother Miles, and me after Lester, but I never heard him refer to any other Jazz Musician as a Genius apart from Monk. We adopted a disheveled cat when I was 13, I named him Thelonious.

Listening to Monk fills me with such joy. He just makes me smile.

@barbarabrown3381

Жыл бұрын

And his notes make me laugh out loud.

The first time I heard Monk was in the 60s in a cafe in France. The owner played jazz records all the time but in the background, not loud, so people could converse. When she put Monk on the deck my head twisted to one side to get one ear nearer to the speaker... I straight away felt a surge of joy go through my body. I laughed at his witty expression and maybe iconoclasm and idiosyncracy though I doubt I knew those words at the time. It was just so beautiful, so brilliant, so quirky, so fresh. It was like I had been waiting all my life to hear this. He really was saying something. Of course I have been a fan ever since. So sad the way he just faded at the end. He was a true genius.

@allen6924

Жыл бұрын

I got divorced in early 2006, I had met this beautiful Dominican woman. I lived there with her and had a child. But she's always thought I was crazy because I would listen to Monk and do his dance lol 😂😆. For me it's Monk and Miles, but I love all the other muthafukas too. 🤣

@luckydave328

Жыл бұрын

@@allen6924 You don't have to be crazy to dig Monk, but maybe it helps

@robertcarli1969

Жыл бұрын

Liar

@barbarabrown3381

6 ай бұрын

❤

@barbarabrown3381

6 ай бұрын

HE HELPS ME WITH MY SUPPOSED "CRAZY."

Thelonious Monk is one of the most important artists of all time. No one was as avant-garde to his approach yet so appealing than Monk. Rest in Peace to the legend.

@shlapleps3306

3 жыл бұрын

I wouldn’t say avant garde

@nyvcr502

3 жыл бұрын

After listening to much of Monk’s music and comparing him to the so called bebop players whom he developed along with. It’s more like (to my ears) that he was listening to his inner ear rather than following along the lines of Bird, Diz, or Bud Powell. He went his own way. It’s like his harmonies & chord voicings were on a higher level.

@McMahonGary

3 жыл бұрын

@@shlapleps3306 I agree; he was not avant-garde. He was very "by the book" or "by the rules." He experimented within a very well-defined tradition. What is mistaken as "far out" was just his own unique style, chord voicings, accents, rhythms across the bar lines, and phrasing. He purposely yet naturally developed his own approach that had an eccentric quality to it. He understood chord progression, harmony, and theory very well. He was influenced by the older stride piano style, too.

@McMahonGary

3 жыл бұрын

@@nyvcr502 I agree, but maybe not harmonies and chord voicing on a "higher" level, but instead a "different, unique" approach. And that was just as much an accomplishment.

@shlapleps3306

3 жыл бұрын

@@McMahonGary Precisely!!!!! He was very adamant about being melodical in improvisation as well.

I heard Monk with Charlie Rouse, Larry Gales & Ben Riley in Melbourne & Sydney, Australia in 1964 or 65. The first night in Melbourne the hall was nearly full & the band was excellent. Melbourne, being a word-of-mouth town, the second night was packed with people standing in the aisles. The band walked out on stage, saw the crowd and was visibly shocked at the number of people. From the first note the "magic" was there and remained all night. If levitation were possible the whole audience would have risen up.

@markgreenway7174

3 жыл бұрын

I wish I was there !

@allisonloxsom7203

3 жыл бұрын

Me too

@Unixilandia

3 жыл бұрын

Me 3!

@ecz3393

3 жыл бұрын

Me four

@ecz3393

3 жыл бұрын

Gimme more....

Sax man came up to monk and said MONK this tune is to hard to play….. monk told him are you a pro. He said yes monk said well then PLAY IT.

sat next to him at the Cambridge Union in the 60's when he came, we ran the jazz club at the university, and he was so gracious and such a gentleman..I feel honoured to have met him

Round Midnight is one of those tunes that gets to me it always has!

@donartyone3258

3 жыл бұрын

Same. Best looping chord progression ever

@blankowvsingt

3 жыл бұрын

Do you know sun ras version of it yet?

I just wanted to thank all the people who made such interesting, educational and warm comments about this post. I share this here because I had access to it and thought it worthy of sharing, given my family's love of the music. For all the new subscribers, I wish I could say I can share many more videos just like this one, but I do try to post my own performances, and video projects, as much as possible. Plans are afoot for lots of new content like that!

@hulado

3 жыл бұрын

thank you chris. its a sweet piece of real.

@edwinphillips49

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the Excellent Exposure!

@JuliaKathleen

3 жыл бұрын

thank you so much!

@hawkrolla

3 жыл бұрын

Wow such a wonderful Doc Myself and all Monks fans Thank you!

@davidsaints1

3 жыл бұрын

Gracias amigo 👍

Monk's ear and understanding of music's glorious architecture is his gift to us; originality, joy, improvisational dancing mind. Authenticity is a rare commodity. Monk is IT.

He played with the piano and took us on a journey we will remember for ever

“It’s always night or we wouldn’t need light”

Beautiful, magical and precious document... Thank you always

Thelonious Monk is an absolutely unique jazz musician and a great piano player, a true artist. Beautiful documentary, thanks for sharing this video. ❤

The music score of The Beat Generation. This is one of the best Docs about Monk.

@NadavHbr

3 жыл бұрын

The music score of many things, one of which was the Beat Generation

@NadavHbr

3 жыл бұрын

A real treasure.

the group with rouse, gales, and riley boats my float!

A total genius. His "smudged chords", as I call them, have paved the way for the best avant-garde jazz, and my favourite jazz artist alongside Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins. A giant. Long live Thelonious Monk.

@JeremyHawkerGuitarStudio1

2 жыл бұрын

We have been smudging chords ever since

@musiclover-cn7tb

6 ай бұрын

I've learned about both reading on jazz and watching documentaries .

Monk, was an extraordinary composer, and a excellent; Black musician, who gave great contributions to his Back community and to Jazzman in America and possibly around the world!!!

What I wouldn't give to go back in time to witness Monk & all these guys as they were creating this art form. To witness history in the making.

A musical genius. I never tire of listening to his absolutely beautiful and amazing inventiveness. A Mozart

Another musician who was a magician.

The freshest breath of air in last century's music.

An age of geniuses...HARD WORKERS by another name.

As a jazz person I know always said " A day without Monk is like a day without sunshine!"

Monk would grow on you. He had some real tricky and creative licks. You had to listen to what he was doing. A true genius of jazz and piano.

Monk was a great example of how to be a rebel, free spirit, jazz artist... and yet not be an annoying pretentious asshole. A wonderful man.

@Jiv_Ing57819

2 жыл бұрын

The two don't actually go hand in hand I think

@Jiv_Ing57819

2 жыл бұрын

Monk, Coltrane, it seems they were never up themselves, quite the opposite, it's pretentious people with pretentious jobs, they are up themselves

Thelonius Monk .... summed up in a word .... Quintessential 👍!

I miss this wonderfull music ,it speaks words to me...❤️conversation.

brought a tear to my eye! what a great man.

That was a really great show, thank you.

So glad that the late great Randy Weston was included in this program. Randy was a beautiful human being, and one of the main forces in bringing the elements of African music into American jazz.

@dme1016

3 жыл бұрын

You DO realize how far back jazz & it's relationship to African vibes go, right? It goes back a lot farther than Mr. Weston's birth in 1926.

@flybeep1661

3 жыл бұрын

@@dme1016 yes and???

@dme1016

3 жыл бұрын

@@flybeep1661 I don't feel the need to expand on my words any fuurther. Either you figure it out, or don't.

@kieronjohnson8834

3 жыл бұрын

@@dme1016 Quite the educator, aren't you?

@dme1016

3 жыл бұрын

@@kieronjohnson8834 On topics that I know, yes. A know-it-all? Nope.

wonderful documentary, the spirits of all the jazz greats are so powerful. feel blessed to be able to have access to such informative docs like this

I love Thelonious Monk's music. What a great artist! I will listen to his music forever

What a beautiful documentary of such a great humble genius of a musician, the great Thelonius Monk.

Wonderful documentary on my favorite jazz man!

The un-smoothest smooth dude, ever to play keys.

@johnmc3862

3 жыл бұрын

A caustic piano player lol.

Thanks for introducing this Grandma to a Great Genius!!! Each person feels their music differently & so expresses it!! Amazing!!!

Thanks for posting. This doc kept my ears on Monk and out of trouble in High School!

I love watching and listening to Monk. It's mesmerizing and enthralling. A genius at work.

Thanks for the upload! I especially enjoyed the interview segments with his sister and the family photos.

Great posting. A true appreciation for Monk and his teams contributions. Mental illness or not. We are all going to get something, but what we leave behind is always good if it brings a smile and joy to someones face.

im watching this for my music appreciation course and it was an interesting watch. Its a shame i never experienced his music firsthand but his stride is something ill never forget.

What a pleasure listening to this very different jazz from Mr. Monk... In fact I love his jazz

A most exemplary documentary. All of it is good, and they saved the best for last.

A wonderful doc because it contains so much unencumbered footage of Monk's playing. Very little "voice over" in this doc. People speak about Monk, or else pure Monk. Another positive is that almost no time is spent on dime store psychology concerning Monk's decision to close down at so relatively young an age. So it's a doc about what Monk DID do and not about what he didn't do, or what he might have done, ot could have done, as though what he did were not enough.

Simply WONDERFUL the unforgettable GENIUS of Monk ❤

Thank u Monk for your music... ETERNAL MUSIC!

''The piano aint got no wrong notes''.

@josephstock573

3 жыл бұрын

Nor did the Bluetooth

@colinhalliley111

3 жыл бұрын

The more you listen the more that statement rings true.

@tahseti1113

3 жыл бұрын

@@colinhalliley111 Monk knew what he was talking about.

@colinhalliley111

3 жыл бұрын

@@tahseti1113 😉

@bravotab5480

3 жыл бұрын

It’s easier to play and or create once that is accepted

I love to hear eric dolphy on that bass clarinet playing with monk

Thanks for this! Wonderful interviews, historic concert footage, and... dancing. Made me smile.

@OneTrineMendUs

3 жыл бұрын

Likewise 😊

Thank you so very much for this most generous, wonderful gift. A true gift into the world, beauty and tenacious soul/spirit that (was) is (will always be) Thelonious Monk. I can stop and hear the spaces in between the notes as soft, or as loud, as the played notes not in between (Played Twice). Thank you.

What a great documentary......Monk was a one off.....he totally took music in n new direction.....thankfully there’s always someone around who will do that.

Great documentary thanks for sharing! R.I.P Barry Harris

This is brilliant. Love it. Thanks.

An amazing man. A superb technique in musicianship. A fun and soulful character. A joy to listen and watch!

Thelonious Monk was the first musician I managed to collect the complete oeuvre of. Fortunately, there is still hitherto unreleased material popping up every now and then, but even albums you may have listened to dozens of times will never fail to catch you off-guard and let you discover something new. Music that only gets better as time goes by, just as the man himself grows closer to me with every passing year.

King Thelonious Monk. Such a brilliant musician and composer.

What an awesome introduction to something so amazing I wasn't familiar with, yet; Thank you mister Monk, for giving me a glimpsing grasp of Bebop and with it, an entire world a new, to explore. (and thank you for sharing, Chris!)

Beautiful ...delicate music.

Thank you for this!

Allways listening to monk and nice to hear from his friends and family especially his drummer

@OneTrineMendUs

3 жыл бұрын

I really enjoyed his segment also.

As a drummer, I'd give anything to have played with, Monk. His compositions offer so much for the drummer.

@i_am_a_music_maker5212

Жыл бұрын

He was a very rhythmic and percussive player, and his tunes often have very memorable rhythms and motifs

Thank you for sharing. ❤

Great upload. Thank you very much!

Beautiful. Thank you.

Amazing doco, thanks for sharing. 😍

thank you for sharing this!

Excellent and informative : glad I found this on KZread. A great fan from 1962 and saw him 3 times in London. Loved Monk and Trane together, also Johnny Griffin in the quartet. Riverside years were the best. I agree with Randy, his heart wasn't in it later on. 53.43

Ive watched this 12 times. He's my fave pianist of all. Love his style.

Magnificent. Thank you

Most jazz documentaries are so filled up with B.S. and the desire to fashion a cheap, sentimental narrative of flawed genius and tragic endpoints. This one is very good, though; thanks to Chris Maxfield for having posted it, and thanks to the original filmmakers for not having turned Monk into a caricature. I think I first tried to play a Monk tune, let me think… oh right: it was 60 years ago. I really can’t imagine how much poorer American music would have been without him.

I’m somewhat new to his music. What I love the best in his playing is his crazy, funky phrasing and rhythms. Man. He’s twice as funky as Mr. Brown

Monk heard modern sounds beyond the boundaries of Jazz. And your Dad has good taste.

Beautiful........ I miss these cats, I sure do.

A great inventor and a true genius, Thelonius Monk!!!

just excellent. thank you very much, chris

incredible documentary.i really love this.

@Jiv_Ing57819

2 жыл бұрын

Crepuscel with nelie ,:-0

Thanks so much for posting!

Love It All

One of my Favorite Jazz Pianist. I've seen him live several times and never realized he played so flat fingered..that has a lot to do with his sound besides of course his voicing and dissonance. Awesome man a Fantastic Addition to JAZZ. I once saw Monk at the Plugged Nickle in Chicago during a big winter snow storm. His group came in, went to the Bar,sat on stage and while the groupwasputting their equipment together, Monk sat at the piano ,still with his outside clothes on, and played 1 song....stood up and faced the audience and said " break time".

Monk, a secret weapon in the American musical arsenal. An incredible man. I love this era, have read about it extensively. Heroin is a hell of a drug.

@WellseeTheend

3 жыл бұрын

Right. I’ve never taken Heroine but I’ve taken opioids for years. That’s bad enough. Can’t imagine smack

Monk ..Bud Powell....Abdullah Ibrahim....Keith Jarret ...my favorites.

Thank you for posting this. " Anything but Kenny G and his ilk". That made my day :) :)

Awesome video👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Awesome 👌

Thelonious Monk was pure genius!

You wanna feel old? The time these guys reflect on from the point in time when this was recorded is shorter than the time between now and when that documentary was recorded.

@michaelcorrado3452

3 жыл бұрын

How so? This was made in 91, thirty years ago. Isn’t most of the footage of Monk from the forties and fifties?

...the music Monk makes is so beautiful it makes me cry. Thanks for uploading this one, it's an excellent documentary, not just on him but his time.

Monk clearly bordered on genius and sanity. One of those rare talented cats that comes once every generation.

A gifted composer!

Thelonius Monk su aporte al movimiento del bebop es indiscitible. Su particular forma de tocar, su tecnica y sus composiciones lo hacen uno de los musicos mas influyentes del siglo XX

A very good and melodic man. Thanks for this publication 👍 well done.

@user-cr2gj8kw4e

3 жыл бұрын

Don't stop on it. If possible continue with that. Coz you're making the history of American Jazz for people around the world understandably. And it's great.

My daughter walked by as I was watching this. She stopped and said, "Oh my god, are you crying?" Me, "No, I am misty eyed because this is beautiful."

@OneTrineMendUs

3 жыл бұрын

I feel you on that, I experienced it also.

@analisathirwell7071

2 жыл бұрын

I was in the car listening and watching and it hit me too.. what a jazz treasure this guy is… I have a 16 yr old piano student and I just hipped him to Monk. Eyes widened …and I just gotta keep passing it on to the next generations..