Home » Jazz Articles » Film Review » Monk

139

Monk

By

View read count
Rome Neal/Laurence Holder
Monk
DVD; 90 minutes
2005

Pianist Thelonious Monk cut an elusive figure throughout his public life as an innovator of early bebop. The very mystery surrounding Monk as a personality is what makes the one-man play Monk, now available on DVD, compelling viewing.

The ninety-minute theater piece begs this simple question: Just what was Monk thinking? Playwright Laurence Holder and actor Rome Neal give us complex answers. The play, filmed at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, traces Monk's life chronologically from his early years as a church musician through his career on the vanguard of the bebop movement to his demise in relative seclusion.

Rather than a point-by-point narration of Monk's life, however, Holder and Neal focus on Monk's struggle to articulate his inner reality, a reality sometimes clouded by narcotics and possibly mental illness. Monk's triumph, in the end, the play suggests, lay in his ability to defy the inner chattering and outer naysayers long enough to create an enduring musical legacy.

Neal renders an engaging Thelonious Monk, making full use of a simple set with his inspired dancing, his modest costume changes and his resonant voice. The original score is by Bill Lee, who also scores son Spike's films. Of particular interest is a bonus track that includes, among others, an interview with Ossie Davis, most likely one of Davis' last interviews before his death in February 2005.

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Jazz article: Sunday Best: A Netflix Documentary
Jazz article: The Session Man: Nicky Hopkins
Jazz article: Marley: Collector's Edition (2DVD)
Jazz article: Bob Dylan: A Complete Unknown

Popular

Read Take Five with Pianist Irving Flores
Read Jazz em Agosto 2025
Read Bob Schlesinger at Dazzle
Read SFJAZZ Spring Concerts
Read Sunday Best: A Netflix Documentary
Read Vivian Buczek at Ladies' Jazz Festival

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.