Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American OriginalFrom the mind of brilliant historian Robin Kelley comes the first full biography of legendary jazz musician Thelonious Monk, including full access to the family's archives, dozens of interviews, and an afterword for Monk’s 2017 centennial. Thelonious Monk is the critically acclaimed, gripping saga of an artist’s struggle to “make it” without compromising his musical vision. It is a story that, like its subject, reflects the tidal ebbs and flows of American history in the twentieth century. To his fans, he was the ultimate hipster; to his detractors, he was temperamental, eccentric, taciturn, or childlike. 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. Elegantly written and rich with humor and pathos, Thelonious Monk is the definitive work on modern jazz’s most original composer. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 15 | |
| 25 | |
| 40 | |
| 51 | |
| 60 | |
Since You Went Away I Missed You | 76 |
Im Trying to See If Its a Hit | 89 |
My Time for Fame Will Come | 225 |
The Police Just Mess with You for Nothing | 240 |
Make Sure Them Tempos Are Right | 257 |
Hell I Did That TwentyFive Years Ago | 279 |
Bebopens Oversteprast | 298 |
Maybe Im a Major Influence | 310 |
Everything Begins Here and Everything Ends Here | 327 |
Thats a Drag Picture Theyre Paintin of Me | 345 |
Dizzy and Bird Did Nothing for Me Musically | 104 |
The George Washington of Bebop | 122 |
Its a Drag to Be in Jail | 143 |
The Un Years | 156 |
France Libre | 170 |
Sometimes I Play Things I Never Heard Myself | 178 |
The Greta Garbo of Jazz | 187 |
As Long as I Can Make a Living | 198 |
People Have Tried to Put Me Off as Being Crazy | 214 |
Sometimes I Dont Feel Like Talking | 363 |
Let Someone Else Create Something New | 386 |
What Do I Have to Do? Play Myself to Death? | 409 |
Postlude | 449 |
Acknowledgments | 457 |
A Technical Note on Monks Music | 465 |
Original Compositions by Thelonious Monk | 569 |
Selected Recordings by Thelonious Monk | 577 |
Other editions - View all
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original Robin D. G. Kelley No preview available - 2009 |
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original Robin D. G. Kelley No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
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