"...[A] breath of fresh air amongst the biographies of our legendary jazz musicians. This book is thorough, detailed and written with a true affinity for Monk's humaneness and creative musical output." --Chick Corea
Composer, performer, icon of the jazz world: Thelonious Sphere Monk broke rules of musical composition and created a body of work and a sound distinctively his own. His songs (“Round Midnight,” “Straight, No Chaser,” “Well, You Needn’t,” “Ruby, My Dear”), with their witty use of dissonance and devotion to melody, remain standards of the world’s jazz clubs, jam sessions and recording studios. Yet with the often-misunderstood mystique surrounding his life--he’s been described as “mad,” “brooding,” and “childlike”--and with his trademark goatee, dark glasses and beret, Monk made many perceive him as merely a character, an icon of hipster cool. Much about him remains as inscrutable as the renowned quirkiness of his music and character. Now, nearly sixteen years in the making, award-winning historian Robin D.G. Kelley uncovers the real story behind the genius in THELONIOUS MONK: The Life and Times of an American Original (Free Press; October 6, 2009, $30.00).
THELONIOUS MONK, the first full biography of the jazz legend, is based on exclusive access to the Monk family archives, a decade of research and interviews with previously-reticent family members and friends. After receiving the Monk family’s blessing to write the book, Kelley embarked on an “archaeological dig” through the storage space Monk’s widow Nellie maintained. He sifted through mountains of trash, broken toys, clothing, and magazines for two years and emerged with boxes of pure gold: everything from old receipts and medical bills to clothing to long-forgotten photographs and recordings.
Kelley’s findings take us back to the tumultuous time in which Monk lived and performed: where he played, who he played with, the songs he wrote. He gives behind-the-scenes access to the jazz scene: the clubs, their owners, the reporters, the musicians, the festivals. The man behind the music is unearthed: from Monk as a family man to revelations of his mental health issues to the complex relationship he had with his friend and caregiver the Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter, Kelley spares no detail. Above all, Kelley exposes the gripping saga of an artist’s struggle to “make it" without compromising his musical vision. Monk’s story, from roots in slavery, to the Great Migration north, to the cultural explosions of the '40s, '50s, and '60s, encapsulates a vivid tableau of twentieth-century American life and music.
THELONIOUS MONK is biography at its best, a fitting tribute to one of America’s most original and lasting creative geniuses, to be released just in time for what would have been his 92nd birthday.
About the Author
Robin D.G. Kelley is a professor of history and American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. His book Race Rebels won an ASCAP award for best book on music and culture. He lives in Los Angeles.
Composer, performer, icon of the jazz world: Thelonious Sphere Monk broke rules of musical composition and created a body of work and a sound distinctively his own. His songs (“Round Midnight,” “Straight, No Chaser,” “Well, You Needn’t,” “Ruby, My Dear”), with their witty use of dissonance and devotion to melody, remain standards of the world’s jazz clubs, jam sessions and recording studios. Yet with the often-misunderstood mystique surrounding his life--he’s been described as “mad,” “brooding,” and “childlike”--and with his trademark goatee, dark glasses and beret, Monk made many perceive him as merely a character, an icon of hipster cool. Much about him remains as inscrutable as the renowned quirkiness of his music and character. Now, nearly sixteen years in the making, award-winning historian Robin D.G. Kelley uncovers the real story behind the genius in THELONIOUS MONK: The Life and Times of an American Original (Free Press; October 6, 2009, $30.00).
THELONIOUS MONK, the first full biography of the jazz legend, is based on exclusive access to the Monk family archives, a decade of research and interviews with previously-reticent family members and friends. After receiving the Monk family’s blessing to write the book, Kelley embarked on an “archaeological dig” through the storage space Monk’s widow Nellie maintained. He sifted through mountains of trash, broken toys, clothing, and magazines for two years and emerged with boxes of pure gold: everything from old receipts and medical bills to clothing to long-forgotten photographs and recordings.
Kelley’s findings take us back to the tumultuous time in which Monk lived and performed: where he played, who he played with, the songs he wrote. He gives behind-the-scenes access to the jazz scene: the clubs, their owners, the reporters, the musicians, the festivals. The man behind the music is unearthed: from Monk as a family man to revelations of his mental health issues to the complex relationship he had with his friend and caregiver the Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter, Kelley spares no detail. Above all, Kelley exposes the gripping saga of an artist’s struggle to “make it" without compromising his musical vision. Monk’s story, from roots in slavery, to the Great Migration north, to the cultural explosions of the '40s, '50s, and '60s, encapsulates a vivid tableau of twentieth-century American life and music.
THELONIOUS MONK is biography at its best, a fitting tribute to one of America’s most original and lasting creative geniuses, to be released just in time for what would have been his 92nd birthday.
About the Author
Robin D.G. Kelley is a professor of history and American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. His book Race Rebels won an ASCAP award for best book on music and culture. He lives in Los Angeles.
