YouTube Pick - Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser - Day by Day with Bret Primack 10/11/11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4pmPPtKU64 to view the Thelonious Monk documentary, "Straight No Chaser," Bret Primack's YouTube pick of the week.

Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (1988) is a documentary about the life of Thelonious Monk. Produced by Clint Eastwood, Bruce Ricker, and directed/co-produced by Charlotte Zwerin, it features live performances by Monk and his group, and posthumous interviews with friends and family. The film was created when a large amount of archived footage of Monk was found in the 1980s,
A recurrent image in Charlotte Zwerin's remarkable documentary, ''Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser,'' is of the jazz pianist slowly spinning around in what appear to be deliberate attempts to disorient himself. Although the film offers no explanation for this penchant, the picture of the pianist whirling like a child playing games with himself is an apt metaphor for his revolutionary piano style. As the abundant musical soundtrack illustrates, his spare, knotty pianism, with its restless stop-start rhythms and percussive insistence, maintained a perspective on life and art that was defiantly off-center, obsessively exploratory and deeply personal.
The core of the 90-minute movie, is taken from 14 hours of black-and-white film shot in the late 1960's by Michael and Christian Blackwood for a cinema verite television special about Monk. Broadcast only once, in West Germany, the program was never shown again. The film resurfaced in 1981 when Mr. Blackwood and Bruce Ricker, the co-producers of ''Straight, No Chaser,'' teamed up with Miss Zwerin.

Augmenting the original film are more recent interviews with Thelonious Monk Jr.; the tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse; Monk's longtime manager Harry Colomby; his European road manager Bob Jones, and his friend the Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter. From them we learn that Monk remained an enigma even to those closest to him. Thorny and taciturn, with occasional flashes of very dry humor, he was obviously conscious of his mystique and played off of it. But he was also acutely sensitive and moody and perhaps a manic-depressive. Illness eventually made it impossible for him to perform, and he gave his last public performance in 1976, six years before his death. At the time ''Straight, No Chaser'' began to be compiled, he was too ill to be interviewed for the film.
The film's late-60's portions, which document a European tour and also catch Monk playing in clubs and in recording sessions, are some of the most valuable jazz sequences ever shot. Closeups of Monk's hands on the keyboard reveal a technique that was unusually tense, spiky and aggressive. Other scenes show him explaining his compositions and chord structures, giving instructions in terse, barely intelligible growls that even his fellow musicians found difficult to interpret.
The Monk music that courses through the film is extraordinary in its range of feeling. A tumultuous performance of his most famous composition, '' 'Round Midnight,'' suggests a kind of jazz-musical Cubism, while pop songs like ''I Should Care'' are rendered with a biting poignancy.
The film reminds us again and again that Monk was as important a jazz composer as he was a pianist. Pieces like ''Rhythm-A-Ning,'' ''Blue Monk'' ''Ugly Beauty,'' ''Crepuscule With Nellie,'' ''Epistrophy'' and ''Misterioso'' were much more than extended songs. They defined a dense, be-bop-flavored jazz impressionism whose influence and power have only recently begun to be fully recognized.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Thelonious Monk
• Straight No Chaser
• Bret Primack
• Jazz Video Guy
• Clint Eastwood
• Charlie Rouse
• Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter
• Round Midnight
• Blue Monk
• Epistrophy

[ollingpolling]

Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to seeing it.

By the way, do you know if there's anything similar about Coltrane? Or at least anything where you can see him as a person speaking? Couldn't find anything. No wonder he's a mistery!

Anyway I like what you're doing. Keep it up! Cheers! :)

[ollingpolling]

@ollingpolling Btw: What's that tune at the end of your "day by day"? Groovy!

[JazzVideoGuy]

@ollingpolling Archie Shepp, Blues for Brother George Jackson, from Attica Blues

[JazzVideoGuy]

@ollingpolling There are some audio tapes of Coltrane interviews, but nothing on film. Wish there was!

[matoflash]

@ollingpolling I have found one great documentary, called The World According to John Coltrane. It's not footage of Trane talking, but a least you see him live, walking, playing etc.

Also, like Bret said, there are some audio interviews of him!

[JazzVideoGuy]

@matoflash That's a good doc, but I prefer the Jazz Icons Coltrane DVD.

[aarfeld]

I've watched "Straight, No Chaser" a couple of times now and enjoyed it very much. It gave me some great insight into his life. The biography of him that came out a couple of years ago is quite excellent and I highly recommend it. I checked it at my local library and others may find a copy in their local libraries as well.

[ollingpolling]

@matoflash Thanks matoflash, that's a promising title. I'll check it out. Cheers

[speakeasynyc]

Favorite Monk? Love these kind of questions. 1st is with Sonny, Brilliant Corners is brilliant, then with the other Tenor titan Coltrane. The recently discovered Live set from Carnegie Hall really captures the flavor of the band, however it is impossible to leave out the original Riverside album with Trane where Monk calls out "Coltrane" as Trane enters. Like Tinkers to Evans. There must be solo Monk. I love live in S.F, but also a less know album that was on Black Lion: the London collection.

[ollingpolling]

@JazzVideoGuy Thanks for the reply. Checking it out now. Great stuff! Thanks

[JazzyZenBrotha]

The documentary is absolutely fantastic! I loved it!

By the way, my favorite Monk tunes are "Epistrophy" and "Trinkle Tinkle." But if I had to choose my favorite Monk album it would be "UNDERGROUND" all the way!

[ehasch]

I liked that documentary.

[StromboliKicks]

I like that part of the documentary when a journalist ask him what kind of music does he like! it's so funny!

[JazzVideoGuy]

@qcanimezing Monk was one of Bebop's inventors.

[qcanimezing]

Neat Bebop video!

[maisqpoesia9999lcg]

Brilliant!!!This documentary is very well done!!! MONK FOREVER!!!!!! Thanks my friend!! Hugs! Luiz Cláudio - Brazil.

[DajaWaja]

when you post something like a full documentary in youtube you may end having problems with copyrighting 'n stuff

[JazzVideoGuy]

@ReddsMando The most recent Monk bio?

[JazzVideoGuy]

@drorby Will be featuring my favorites, each week.

[drorby]

It's really a great one, thank you very much love to hear about more recommended documentaries on youtube that you know of.

Thanks again