Thelonius Monk...

I can't really say enough or get enough really, of this great, great musician who was born in North Carolina in 1917, but will forever be associated with New York, The Five Spot, Bop and of course the piano.

Thelonius was an outsider, an on the edge artist, Thelonius was underground! and way ahead of his time and his peers. No one looked like Monk, no one played like Monk and he was largely ignored for the early part of his career.  After losing his licence to play, due to him having the notorius Bud Powell in his motor vehicle and getting busted for possession of narcotics,  and after a residency at the Five Spot, a small restaurant in New York City, Thelonius finally started to get the recognition his talent was due. Through it all Monk seemed oblivious, always dancing (quite literally) to a different drum. The man lived to play.

And his playing was lyrical,  full off air but totally on the edge, as if at any moment he may fall off and crash land, but never did. Monk was a true individual, and a great artist.

I sometimes think, you know, where did these guys come from, I mean what dimension!! Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, Bud Powell, Ornette Coleman? All very different and all individually brilliant. What was it in the early part of 20th Century American history that produced these men and their music, these magicians, these shamen of sound? Well I don't rightly know, but the evidence of that magic, that 'altered musical reality' is here in spades in this great documentary. Mo Monk please...