Friday, August 10, 2007

Thelonious Monk - "Straight No Chaser" (documentary)

Thelonious Monk is one of my favorite jazz pianists. Along with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and others, he was at the epicenter of the BeBop revolution. Yet, he is not as well-known as those other artists and his music is often misunderstood. Some folks don't like the angularity of Monk's sound, the sudden stops and starts, the jagged edges of his music, but those are some of the reasons I dig it so much. Monk was also a very strange character...

A decade or so ago, Clint Eastwood did an excellent documentary on Monk, "Straight, No Chaser," named after one of Monk's classic tunes. It focuses on the man as well as the music. Part one is posted below. The rest of the documentary can be watched through the links that follow. Any single segment runs about 8-10 minutes and each is worth watching all by itself, if you can't check them all out...


Straight, No Chaser, part 2
Straight, No Chaser, part 3
Straight, No Chaser, part 4
Straight, No Chaser, part 5
Straight, No Chaser, part 6
Straight, No Chaser, part 7
Straight, No Chaser, part 8
Straight, No Chaser, part 9
Straight, No Chaser, part 10

Or, if you just want to see Thelonious and his group jam out, click here for a fine version of "Blue Monk"

Dig it! Happy Friday...

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