Thelonious Monk : the life and times of an American original / Robin D.G. Kelley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kelley, Robin D. G.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Monk, Thelonious.

Jazz musicians--United States--Biography.

Jazz musicians.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Biographie.

Physical Description:

xviii, 588 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First Free Press hardcover edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Free Press, 2009.

Summary:

His angular melodies and dissonant harmonies shook the jazz world to its foundations, ushering in the birth of "bebop" and establishing Monk as one of America's greatest composers. Yet throughout much of his life, his musical contribution took a backseat to tales of his reputed behavior. Writers tended to obsess over Monk's hats or his proclivity to dance on stage. To his fans, he was the ultimate hipster; to his detractors, he was temperamental, eccentric, taciturn, or childlike. Now, historian Robin D.G. Kelley brings to light a startlingly different Thelonious Monk- witty, intelligent, generous, politically engaged, brutally honest, and a devoted father and husband. This is the saga of an artist's struggle to "make it" without compromising his musical vision; a story that, like its subject, reflects the tidal ebbs and flows of American history in the twentieth century.-From publisher description.

Contents:

Prelude

"My mother didn't want me to grow up in North Carolina"

"What is jazz? New York, man!"

"I always did want to play piano"

"We played and she healed"

"Why can't you play music like the Ink Spots?"

"They weren't giving any lectures"

"Since you went away I missed you"

"I'm trying to see if it's a hit"

"Dizzy and Bird did nothing for me musically"

"The George Washington of Bebop"

"It's a drag to be in jail"

"The 'un' years"

"France libre!"

"Sometimes I play things I never heard myself"

"The Greta Garbo of jazz"

"As long as I can make a living"

"People have tried to put me off as being crazy"

"My time for fame will come"

"The police just mess with you ... for nothing"

"Make sure them tempos are right"

"Hell, I did that twenty-five years ago"

"Bebopens oversteprast"

"Maybe I'm a major influence"

"Everything begins here and everything ends here"

"That's a drag picture they're paintin' of me"

"Sometimes I don't feel like talking"

"Let someone else create something new!"

"What do I have to do? Play myself to death?"

"I am very seriously ill!"

Postlude

Appendix A: A technical note on Monk's music

Appendix B: Records and tapes in Thelonious Monk's personal collection

Notes

Original compositions by Thelonious Monk

Selected recordings by Thelonious Monk

Selected documentaries and videos of Thelonious Monk

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 463-572) and index.

Hurston/Wright Legacy Award - Nonfiction, Winner, 2010

ISBN:

9780684831909

0684831902

9781439190463

1439190461

OCLC:

180755951

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description