Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser

1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 2 00:00:27,319 --> 00:00:29,321 ♪ [jazz] 3 00:01:10,445 --> 00:01:12,447 [humming along] 4 00:02:13,925 --> 00:02:20,432 "Thelonious, Thelonious Sphere. Born 1918. Question mark.” 5 00:02:20,599 --> 00:02:21,683 [chuckles] 6 00:02:22,267 --> 00:02:24,436 "U.S. jazz pianist and composer." 7 00:02:25,479 --> 00:02:27,731 It appears you're famous, Thelonious. 8 00:02:27,898 --> 00:02:29,608 That's what that means? 9 00:02:29,775 --> 00:02:34,279 [Jones] Yeah. They only list all the popes in here and presidents. 10 00:02:37,074 --> 00:02:38,450 Here it says... 11 00:02:40,452 --> 00:02:43,246 If you're famous, then they put your name in the, uh...? 12 00:02:43,413 --> 00:02:44,956 - In this book. Uh-huh. - Uh... 13 00:02:45,832 --> 00:02:48,001 Well, I'm famous. Ain't that a bitch? 14 00:02:48,168 --> 00:02:50,420 ♪ [piano ragtime] 15 00:02:50,587 --> 00:02:54,341 [narrator] Born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in 1917. 16 00:02:54,508 --> 00:02:58,679 Moved to New York City in 1922 with his mother and family. 17 00:02:58,845 --> 00:03:02,683 They settled in the West 60s, in a neighborhood called San Juan Hill. 18 00:03:03,392 --> 00:03:06,103 The pianist James P. Johnson lived there, 19 00:03:06,269 --> 00:03:10,982 and Eubie Blake's musical, Shuffle Along, opened in a local theater. 20 00:03:15,737 --> 00:03:18,699 The streets of San Juan Hill were filled with music. 21 00:03:18,865 --> 00:03:22,077 The sounds of the singers, the piano players, and the big bands 22 00:03:22,244 --> 00:03:26,623 drifted from home radios and blended with sidewalk gospel music. 23 00:03:28,250 --> 00:03:31,837 Monk began playing the piano without formal training. 24 00:03:32,003 --> 00:03:34,423 Later, he took lessons and studied music theory 25 00:03:34,589 --> 00:03:36,883 at the Juilliard School of Music. 26 00:03:37,050 --> 00:03:41,012 But his real teachers were the master jazzmen of his time: 27 00:03:41,179 --> 00:03:44,683 Fats Waller, Art Tatum, and Duke Ellington. 28 00:03:46,810 --> 00:03:50,814 At 17, he toured the United States with a gospel group. 29 00:03:50,981 --> 00:03:52,482 Monk returned to New York 30 00:03:52,649 --> 00:03:55,944 and became the house piano player at Minton's Playhouse, 31 00:03:56,111 --> 00:03:58,488 the scene of a revolution in music. 32 00:03:58,655 --> 00:04:02,534 There, with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, 33 00:04:02,701 --> 00:04:04,745 Monk joined the revolution. 34 00:04:04,911 --> 00:04:06,830 It was called "bebop." 35 00:04:06,997 --> 00:04:08,915 ♪ [bebop] 36 00:05:38,171 --> 00:05:39,256 [audience applauding] 37 00:05:39,422 --> 00:05:41,341 [narrator] Bebop got a lot of attention, 38 00:05:41,508 --> 00:05:45,220 but Monk's unique contribution was largely unrecognized. 39 00:05:46,012 --> 00:05:48,181 He was known by very few. 40 00:05:48,348 --> 00:05:52,435 One who knew was the great saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. 41 00:05:52,602 --> 00:05:57,357 In 1944, Hawkins hired him, and Monk made his first record. 42 00:05:57,524 --> 00:05:59,359 ♪ [piano jazz] 43 00:06:09,536 --> 00:06:13,707 By that time, Monk had already composed many of his major works. 44 00:06:13,874 --> 00:06:15,125 He wrote many more, 45 00:06:15,292 --> 00:06:18,336 and the language of jazz was changed forever. 46 00:06:18,503 --> 00:06:22,424 - [playing jazz music] - [audience clapping] 47 00:06:51,119 --> 00:06:53,121 [humming along] 48 00:08:23,253 --> 00:08:25,880 - [song ends] - [audience applauding] 49 00:08:26,047 --> 00:08:28,800 [Rouse] "Bebop." That's a strange word sometimes too. 50 00:08:28,967 --> 00:08:30,301 He was a musician. 51 00:08:30,468 --> 00:08:33,263 And when the music changed, they just called it "bebop." 52 00:08:34,556 --> 00:08:37,726 But, uh, Thelonious was like a founder. 53 00:08:37,892 --> 00:08:41,563 He was the f... Like, he laid down the foundation. 54 00:08:42,689 --> 00:08:44,190 He was the piano player. 55 00:08:45,150 --> 00:08:46,276 Uh-huh. 56 00:08:46,443 --> 00:08:49,154 A lot of his compositions is classics now. 57 00:08:49,654 --> 00:08:51,781 [playing jazz music] 58 00:11:30,315 --> 00:11:32,358 [last note echoes] 59 00:11:33,026 --> 00:11:36,154 [Colomby] He saw himself as modern. He liked to use the word "modern." 60 00:11:36,321 --> 00:11:37,864 "A modern jazz player." 61 00:11:38,031 --> 00:11:39,949 Blacks who were listening to that music 62 00:11:40,116 --> 00:11:45,830 saw an expression of independence and pride and strength. 63 00:11:45,997 --> 00:11:47,957 Thelonious Monk just represented that. 64 00:11:48,124 --> 00:11:51,085 The earliest example of a Black revolution, 65 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:57,926 of a Black, uh, uprising in a sense, in music, was in the bebop period, 66 00:11:58,092 --> 00:12:01,012 where the musicians weren't obviously trying to please an audience, 67 00:12:01,179 --> 00:12:04,265 but they were playing their music their way. 68 00:12:04,432 --> 00:12:06,559 It was a real independent expression. 69 00:12:06,726 --> 00:12:08,186 [playing jazz music] 70 00:12:29,625 --> 00:12:32,788 [Colomby] Here's what I gathered: That his music at the time was... 71 00:12:32,929 --> 00:12:34,754 was unorthodox. 72 00:12:34,921 --> 00:12:36,172 It wasn't popular. 73 00:12:36,339 --> 00:12:39,217 Uh, that his records really weren't selling. 74 00:12:39,384 --> 00:12:41,803 He was more an underground figure. 75 00:12:41,970 --> 00:12:43,680 He was also a man 76 00:12:43,846 --> 00:12:49,102 about whom stories about unreliability were circulating. 77 00:12:49,269 --> 00:12:51,104 ♪ [jazz] 78 00:12:51,271 --> 00:12:54,274 Live television is the scariest medium of all 79 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:56,276 because it's millions of people. 80 00:12:56,442 --> 00:12:58,528 If you're gonna act silly or you're gonna be late, 81 00:12:58,695 --> 00:13:01,531 you're not gonna show up, it's gonna be a glaring omission. 82 00:13:02,073 --> 00:13:05,493 And, uh, I just remember being very, very nervous. 83 00:13:06,369 --> 00:13:10,957 He sat down and he played, and I was aware of a real professional. 84 00:13:11,124 --> 00:13:12,000 There he is. He's... 85 00:13:12,166 --> 00:13:14,394 What's there to be nervous about? He's there. 86 00:14:08,264 --> 00:14:10,194 I remember, though, on the way back, 87 00:14:10,264 --> 00:14:13,603 he was a little pissed off at Count Basie. 88 00:14:13,770 --> 00:14:15,229 What did he say? He said... 89 00:14:15,396 --> 00:14:18,483 Oh, Count Basie kept looking at him, or look... 90 00:14:18,649 --> 00:14:20,735 Looking at him while he was playing. 91 00:14:20,902 --> 00:14:23,488 He was at the piano. And that somehow bothered him. 92 00:14:23,654 --> 00:14:26,699 He said, "Next time he plays somewhere, I'm gonna look at him." 93 00:14:26,866 --> 00:14:28,508 ♪ [jazz] 94 00:14:28,578 --> 00:14:30,934 To be employed in New York, you needed... 95 00:14:31,004 --> 00:14:32,981 a police card, or cabaret card. 96 00:14:33,331 --> 00:14:35,458 If I decided I wanted to be a musician, 97 00:14:35,625 --> 00:14:38,753 I'd have to go to the police, put my fingerprints down, 98 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:40,171 and get my card. 99 00:14:40,256 --> 00:14:42,527 That card would be in my possession until 100 00:14:42,628 --> 00:14:45,091 such time as I would commit a crime. 101 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:47,678 Then that card would be removed. 102 00:14:48,262 --> 00:14:49,722 He had lost his. 103 00:14:49,889 --> 00:14:52,975 His friend Bud Powell was leaving town 104 00:14:53,142 --> 00:14:57,230 and asked him to drive with him to the airport. 105 00:14:57,397 --> 00:15:01,943 They made a stop, and, uh, Bud Powell got out, 106 00:15:02,110 --> 00:15:04,487 got back in with some drugs. 107 00:15:04,654 --> 00:15:09,367 So the cops saw whatever they had in their hands flying out the window. 108 00:15:09,534 --> 00:15:11,452 "Who threw it out?” "Thelonious Monk." 109 00:15:11,619 --> 00:15:17,583 And so he was arrested and convicted and got, I think, 90 days. 110 00:15:17,750 --> 00:15:21,462 He said he never used. He was not guilty at that time. 111 00:15:22,296 --> 00:15:23,506 The police in those days... 112 00:15:23,673 --> 00:15:26,384 And we're talking about the '50s. Maybe it started even earlier. 113 00:15:26,551 --> 00:15:29,262 ...their favorite targets seemed to be jazz musicians. 114 00:15:29,429 --> 00:15:33,099 I mean, there were some cities that were outright unfriendly. 115 00:15:33,266 --> 00:15:36,602 And I think that bothered him. So he'd rather stay in New York. 116 00:15:36,769 --> 00:15:40,022 It was during that period, in the process of getting his card, 117 00:15:40,189 --> 00:15:44,277 that I found this little bar on Third Avenue called the Five Spot. 118 00:15:44,444 --> 00:15:46,362 ♪ [drumroll] 119 00:15:46,529 --> 00:15:48,448 ♪ [jazz] 120 00:16:06,966 --> 00:16:10,511 And he was going to appear there for five, six months. 121 00:16:10,678 --> 00:16:13,639 As long as the... You know, as long as crowds were coming in. 122 00:16:14,182 --> 00:16:15,641 And we did that. 123 00:16:15,808 --> 00:16:17,727 [playing bebop music] 124 00:16:29,906 --> 00:16:32,783 [Colomby] The response was staggering. 125 00:16:32,950 --> 00:16:34,952 The pressure's been building all these years, 126 00:16:35,119 --> 00:16:37,914 and suddenly you take it off and all that stuff comes out. 127 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:40,500 And that's what you felt. That's how he played. 128 00:16:40,666 --> 00:16:41,918 He was just great. 129 00:17:06,984 --> 00:17:08,194 [song ends] 130 00:17:08,361 --> 00:17:10,530 [Colomby] Whoever came loved what they heard. 131 00:17:11,322 --> 00:17:13,491 I felt Thelonious was vindicated 132 00:17:13,658 --> 00:17:16,744 because, all this time, he had been an artist 133 00:17:16,911 --> 00:17:20,873 that had never had his due, in terms of recognition. 134 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,502 And here was the beginning of that changing. 135 00:17:24,669 --> 00:17:26,743 There were phone calls for engagements, of course. 136 00:17:26,813 --> 00:17:28,749 We were now in the lucky position to say: 137 00:17:28,858 --> 00:17:30,813 "We don't go out of town right now." 138 00:17:30,883 --> 00:17:31,717 [Colomby chuckles] 139 00:17:31,884 --> 00:17:35,221 While before this engagement, we would have considered anything. 140 00:17:35,388 --> 00:17:36,889 [Colomby chuckles] 141 00:17:37,932 --> 00:17:40,935 - [people chattering] - [band playing faintly] 142 00:17:42,895 --> 00:17:44,897 I do that on the street if I can. 143 00:17:45,982 --> 00:17:47,984 [man laughing] 144 00:17:54,532 --> 00:17:57,410 If someone else do that, they'd put him in a straitjacket. 145 00:17:57,577 --> 00:17:59,161 [man chuckles] 146 00:18:07,086 --> 00:18:09,630 They'd say, "Oh, that Thelonious Monk, he's crazy." 147 00:18:09,797 --> 00:18:11,716 [audience applauding faintly] 148 00:18:12,842 --> 00:18:15,928 Thank you. The applause comes anyway. 149 00:18:21,267 --> 00:18:24,228 - [man] Hello, guys. Hi there. - Hello. How you doing, man? 150 00:18:25,688 --> 00:18:28,232 - [Gales] Hi there. - [man] Hi. 151 00:18:28,983 --> 00:18:30,776 [Monk] Right through here. Come on. 152 00:18:32,028 --> 00:18:33,654 Hey, all right. Check it out. 153 00:18:34,864 --> 00:18:37,617 - [Rouse] Whoo. - I almost killed myself on one of those. 154 00:18:37,783 --> 00:18:39,924 - [Rouse] Huh. - Yeah, I was in this studio once before. 155 00:18:39,994 --> 00:18:42,496 [Rouse] Huh? I thought you'd never been here before. 156 00:18:42,872 --> 00:18:44,999 - That was a good year. - [Macero] Hey. 157 00:18:45,166 --> 00:18:46,792 Oh, yeah. How you doing, man? 158 00:18:47,335 --> 00:18:48,961 [Macero jigging] 159 00:18:49,128 --> 00:18:50,751 - How you doing? - Hey, what's happening? 160 00:18:50,821 --> 00:18:51,900 What's going on? 161 00:18:51,970 --> 00:18:54,800 - What's that? A new hat? - Everything is happening all the time. 162 00:18:54,967 --> 00:18:56,385 Uh... 163 00:18:56,552 --> 00:18:58,596 Oh, yeah, this was given to me in Poland. 164 00:18:59,388 --> 00:19:02,725 - [Macero] Poland? - Yeah. Someone gave me this hat there. 165 00:19:02,892 --> 00:19:04,101 [Macero] Hey, Larry. 166 00:19:04,852 --> 00:19:08,481 Charlie Rouse here? Everybody's here? Where's Big Ben? 167 00:19:08,648 --> 00:19:11,025 - [Rouse] I don't know. - [Monk] I know. Right here. 168 00:19:12,068 --> 00:19:14,195 - You guys came on time. - [Monk] Everybody's here. 169 00:19:14,362 --> 00:19:16,364 Everybody's here. Only half an hour late. 170 00:19:16,530 --> 00:19:19,241 [Rouse] Baby, hold it like it's a Christmas present. 171 00:19:19,408 --> 00:19:20,576 [Gales laughs] 172 00:19:20,743 --> 00:19:22,953 - Hey, Charles. - [Rouse] Hello, Tee. 173 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:24,914 - How you doing? - [Macero] Doing great. 174 00:19:25,081 --> 00:19:27,708 - [Rouse] You're looking fatter. - Teo! How's it going? 175 00:19:27,875 --> 00:19:29,669 - Play that again, Teo. - [Macero] Yeah! 176 00:19:29,835 --> 00:19:32,004 - Teo. [laughs] - Oh, yeah. 177 00:19:32,755 --> 00:19:35,341 We always will be on time. I made a bet. 178 00:19:35,508 --> 00:19:40,346 [laughs] Oh, man. Let me see the glasses. Oh, you're jiving me. 179 00:19:40,513 --> 00:19:42,723 [laughing] Oh, fuck. Look at that. 180 00:19:42,890 --> 00:19:45,976 - [tech] I like it! With the glasses too. - [Macero] The glasses. 181 00:19:46,143 --> 00:19:47,770 Where can I get another pair like that? 182 00:19:47,937 --> 00:19:50,523 - Oh. Ah. Ah. - [Macero] I wanna get a pair. [laughs] 183 00:19:50,690 --> 00:19:51,774 Now I can see. 184 00:19:51,941 --> 00:19:54,026 - [tech] Have you got anything in them? - No. 185 00:19:54,193 --> 00:19:56,237 [indistinct] ...That's funny. 186 00:19:56,404 --> 00:19:59,198 Oh, you mean it's invisible. I've got invisible glasses on. 187 00:19:59,365 --> 00:20:01,125 - [Macero] Invisible glasses. - That's right. 188 00:20:01,283 --> 00:20:02,785 These are just sketches, right? 189 00:20:02,952 --> 00:20:05,371 [Monk] Yeah, I write down four bars or something. 190 00:20:05,538 --> 00:20:08,040 If you get four bars down, you know, you might... 191 00:20:08,207 --> 00:20:10,835 - You can play the blues. - ...get something down, yeah. 192 00:20:11,711 --> 00:20:14,130 You know, I haven't seen you in four months. 193 00:20:14,296 --> 00:20:18,134 - Since the Vanguard. - Yeah, that's right, uh-huh. 194 00:20:18,676 --> 00:20:20,136 I tell you, time flies. 195 00:20:20,302 --> 00:20:22,638 I'm getting older. You're getting younger. 196 00:20:22,805 --> 00:20:24,265 [both chuckle] 197 00:20:24,432 --> 00:20:27,601 It's good of you to say that. I'm hearing you now. 198 00:20:28,644 --> 00:20:30,146 Heard you before you said it. 199 00:20:31,021 --> 00:20:34,507 Now, let's do some free-form things today. 200 00:20:34,577 --> 00:20:35,956 That's an idea. [playing piano notes] 201 00:20:36,026 --> 00:20:37,445 - Free-form shit? - Yeah. 202 00:20:38,446 --> 00:20:39,655 All right. 203 00:20:39,822 --> 00:20:43,159 You mean like, uh, Dixieland? 204 00:20:43,325 --> 00:20:46,328 [Macero] No, no, no. Play something in different keys. 205 00:20:46,495 --> 00:20:48,456 [Macero playing chords] 206 00:20:51,125 --> 00:20:54,086 I want it to be as easy as possible so people can dig it, 207 00:20:54,253 --> 00:20:56,547 and then... and still be good, you know? 208 00:20:57,423 --> 00:20:58,799 All my songs are like that. 209 00:20:58,966 --> 00:21:03,012 If it's easy, you know, the melody and the time, then it'll be all right. 210 00:21:03,179 --> 00:21:05,222 [band playing mellow jazz] 211 00:21:55,898 --> 00:21:58,025 - [Macero over intercom] Monk? - [band stops] 212 00:21:58,192 --> 00:22:00,611 [Macero] Let's really do one now. We're all set in. 213 00:22:00,778 --> 00:22:02,738 - Huh? - [Macero] Let's do one. 214 00:22:02,905 --> 00:22:05,533 We were just running the piece over. Why'd you stop us? 215 00:22:05,699 --> 00:22:06,699 [Macero] Okay. 216 00:22:07,034 --> 00:22:09,829 Shit. An unnecessary stop. 217 00:22:09,995 --> 00:22:11,914 [band noodling] 218 00:22:12,998 --> 00:22:14,542 Now, where were we at? Uh... 219 00:22:15,543 --> 00:22:18,337 Where were we at before we were so rudely interrupted? 220 00:22:19,421 --> 00:22:21,215 [Rouse] We were at the second bar. 221 00:22:22,216 --> 00:22:25,970 [Monk] Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's where we were at. 222 00:22:27,513 --> 00:22:28,931 [speaking indistinctly] 223 00:22:30,349 --> 00:22:32,059 One or two, however you feel. 224 00:22:32,643 --> 00:22:33,769 [Rouse] From the top? 225 00:22:34,937 --> 00:22:37,481 [Rouse] We'd start out and we'd do a take. 226 00:22:37,648 --> 00:22:39,650 And usually we'd take the first take. 227 00:22:39,817 --> 00:22:42,653 Sometimes we'd take the second, but never the third. 228 00:22:42,820 --> 00:22:45,322 He'd say, "Once you play it the first time, 229 00:22:45,489 --> 00:22:47,992 that's the way the feeling and everything is, 230 00:22:48,158 --> 00:22:51,161 and after that, you start going downhill." 231 00:22:52,413 --> 00:22:56,625 So, uh... And it's more like a challenge when you do that, you know? 232 00:22:56,792 --> 00:23:02,131 You know that you got to play it correctly 233 00:23:02,298 --> 00:23:04,800 the first or second take, or that's it. 234 00:23:04,967 --> 00:23:07,970 He would take it anyhow. If you mess up, well, that's it. 235 00:23:08,762 --> 00:23:10,639 You know, that's your problem. 236 00:23:10,806 --> 00:23:13,142 You have to hear that all the rest of your life. 237 00:23:15,269 --> 00:23:17,229 [playing mellow jazz] 238 00:24:34,014 --> 00:24:35,724 [song ends] 239 00:24:38,769 --> 00:24:40,562 [Macero over intercom] Stand by, please. 240 00:24:41,897 --> 00:24:43,273 Did you get all that down? 241 00:24:45,234 --> 00:24:48,237 - Can you play all that? Huh? - [Macero] Wanna try one? Wanna try one? 242 00:24:48,404 --> 00:24:49,989 I'd like to hear how that sounds. 243 00:24:50,155 --> 00:24:53,117 [Macero replies indistinctly] 244 00:24:53,283 --> 00:24:55,786 Let's make one, and then we'll play it back for you. 245 00:24:57,830 --> 00:25:00,541 Why nobody just don't wanna do what I ask them to do? 246 00:25:00,708 --> 00:25:03,877 I asked to play the song first before we play that other jive. 247 00:25:04,044 --> 00:25:05,013 [Macero] All right, 248 00:25:05,083 --> 00:25:07,047 just keep rehearsing and we'll tape a bit. 249 00:25:07,214 --> 00:25:09,967 - I wanna hear how it sounds. - [Rouse] They didn't tape that one. 250 00:25:10,134 --> 00:25:12,636 You rehearse every time you play on your instrument. 251 00:25:15,681 --> 00:25:17,808 You should know that, a saxophone player. 252 00:25:18,392 --> 00:25:19,392 [Macero] Uh-huh. 253 00:25:20,811 --> 00:25:23,439 They won't do what I ask, you know? I don't know why. 254 00:25:23,605 --> 00:25:25,524 I don't think he taped that one, though. 255 00:25:25,691 --> 00:25:27,735 Yes, he did. He said he was gonna tape it. 256 00:25:27,901 --> 00:25:31,113 [Macero] I said we were gonna make one, but you said you wanted to rehearse... 257 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:32,700 for a few minutes, so I let you rehearse. 258 00:25:32,770 --> 00:25:34,950 I didn't say anything. [coughs] 259 00:25:35,117 --> 00:25:37,661 I didn't say shit. I didn't say nothing. 260 00:25:38,620 --> 00:25:41,999 - Could we hear what that sounds like? - [Macero] We didn't record it! 261 00:25:42,166 --> 00:25:43,166 Oh. 262 00:25:48,922 --> 00:25:50,340 [Macero] Stand by, please. 263 00:25:51,258 --> 00:25:53,260 ♪ [jazz] 264 00:27:40,742 --> 00:27:44,913 [Colomby] Someone named Barry Farrell exacted a promise from the Time people 265 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:47,207 to do a cover on Thelonious Monk. 266 00:27:47,374 --> 00:27:49,405 And when I first heard that was happening, 267 00:27:49,475 --> 00:27:50,919 I didn't believe it. 268 00:27:51,086 --> 00:27:56,300 The first meeting with Barry was in the evening. 269 00:27:56,466 --> 00:27:57,801 And, um... 270 00:27:59,261 --> 00:28:01,638 Uh, I forgot the month, but we were down there... 271 00:28:01,805 --> 00:28:03,682 It was the first meeting. "Hello, I'm Barry. 272 00:28:03,849 --> 00:28:06,810 I'm doing the cover on Thelonious Monk." 273 00:28:06,977 --> 00:28:08,812 "Okay, I'm your cover subject.” 274 00:28:09,521 --> 00:28:11,481 And on the way down, 275 00:28:11,648 --> 00:28:13,650 I noticed the beginning 276 00:28:13,817 --> 00:28:18,697 of a period of strange behavior. 277 00:28:18,864 --> 00:28:20,157 Just the timing was just... 278 00:28:20,324 --> 00:28:22,868 You know, a couple of times a year, that would occur. 279 00:28:24,036 --> 00:28:26,955 And I noticed that, and I was terrified 280 00:28:27,539 --> 00:28:32,461 that if that was spotted in the room, that cover would be blown. 281 00:28:33,086 --> 00:28:35,380 And so I went up with him. 282 00:28:35,547 --> 00:28:38,091 It was just Thelonious Monk, Barry Farrell and myself 283 00:28:38,258 --> 00:28:41,178 in this dark, dark Radio City office. 284 00:28:41,345 --> 00:28:43,931 Barry said, "Hello," and "I'd like you to listen to this record." 285 00:28:44,097 --> 00:28:46,808 Bill Evans playing “Round Midnight." "What do you think of it?" 286 00:28:46,975 --> 00:28:48,143 And it just got going. 287 00:28:48,310 --> 00:28:50,229 And I was watching Thelonious Monk, 288 00:28:50,771 --> 00:28:53,398 uh, and his behavior progressively... 289 00:28:53,565 --> 00:28:55,609 You know, getting progressively, uh... 290 00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:57,861 It wasn't obvious yet. 291 00:28:58,028 --> 00:29:01,782 It was, to me, obvious that it was going to get bad. 292 00:29:02,449 --> 00:29:04,534 And I didn't know how long it would take. 293 00:29:04,701 --> 00:29:08,664 You know, I was just so paranoid about someone spotting something. 294 00:29:09,373 --> 00:29:11,416 I remember he got up, he looked out the window, 295 00:29:11,583 --> 00:29:12,918 and he stared a little bit, 296 00:29:13,085 --> 00:29:16,630 but apparently it wasn't spotted. 297 00:29:16,797 --> 00:29:21,843 By the time he got downstairs with me, he was very withdrawn. 298 00:29:22,010 --> 00:29:23,720 He was already off somewhere. 299 00:29:23,887 --> 00:29:25,806 [band playing jazz music] 300 00:29:54,418 --> 00:29:57,045 [audience laughing intermittently] 301 00:30:24,197 --> 00:30:26,074 Things that people would do to him... 302 00:30:27,242 --> 00:30:29,619 he would just internalize them, 303 00:30:29,786 --> 00:30:31,747 and they would manifest themselves 304 00:30:31,913 --> 00:30:36,043 in tremendous fits of depression and euphoria. 305 00:30:36,209 --> 00:30:37,794 A very schizophrenic-type thing. 306 00:30:37,961 --> 00:30:41,548 And when this would happen, on certain occasions, 307 00:30:41,715 --> 00:30:44,217 yeah, we had to hospitalize him. 308 00:30:44,384 --> 00:30:46,053 He would generally, uh... 309 00:30:49,056 --> 00:30:50,474 close up. 310 00:30:51,183 --> 00:30:52,351 Introvert. 311 00:30:52,517 --> 00:30:53,560 And then... 312 00:30:54,936 --> 00:30:56,355 he would get excited. 313 00:30:57,356 --> 00:31:03,111 And he may, you know, like I say, pace for four days. 314 00:31:03,278 --> 00:31:04,321 Something like that. 315 00:31:04,946 --> 00:31:07,199 And then eventually, he would get exhausted. 316 00:31:07,366 --> 00:31:09,076 So it was, you know, uh... 317 00:31:10,577 --> 00:31:11,578 [sighs] 318 00:31:12,287 --> 00:31:14,956 It's hard to say how it moved. 319 00:31:15,123 --> 00:31:18,543 It was very complex. He was a very complex individual. 320 00:31:18,710 --> 00:31:20,337 - Hey. - [people chattering] 321 00:31:20,504 --> 00:31:23,048 [mumbling indistinctly] 322 00:31:24,549 --> 00:31:27,344 - What's that? [chuckles] - [mumbling indistinctly] 323 00:31:27,511 --> 00:31:30,639 [Kirk] Exac... Exactly. Better watch out. Exactly. 324 00:31:31,348 --> 00:31:32,516 [Kirk chuckling] 325 00:31:32,682 --> 00:31:35,977 [Monk] Well, here we go. Here we go now. 326 00:31:37,229 --> 00:31:39,689 Ready to go. Go. 327 00:31:40,399 --> 00:31:42,401 [man 1 laughing] 328 00:31:48,532 --> 00:31:51,118 [Kirk] ♪ Don't you know That it's getting closer? ♪ 329 00:31:51,284 --> 00:31:52,284 [man 2] Ain't it? 330 00:31:52,702 --> 00:31:54,496 - Ain't it? - [man 3] Nah. They lying. 331 00:31:54,663 --> 00:31:55,663 [chuckles] 332 00:31:57,290 --> 00:31:58,458 ♪ Getting... ♪ 333 00:31:59,584 --> 00:32:01,253 [man 2] We gotta get ready. 334 00:32:01,420 --> 00:32:03,046 [man 3 speaking indistinctly] 335 00:32:03,213 --> 00:32:05,215 [man 2] I got something I wanna tell you. 336 00:32:07,175 --> 00:32:10,220 I guess they started somewhere in the mid '50s, 337 00:32:10,387 --> 00:32:12,556 but, um, they didn't... 338 00:32:14,099 --> 00:32:18,520 I'm not sure the first time Thelonious spent any time in the hospital for them. 339 00:32:18,687 --> 00:32:20,313 I don't think that happened un... 340 00:32:20,856 --> 00:32:25,819 I don't recall that happening until the '60s, till the, uh... 341 00:32:27,571 --> 00:32:29,322 mid to late '60s. 342 00:32:30,031 --> 00:32:34,161 Uh, but my mom told me 343 00:32:34,327 --> 00:32:37,789 that she saw the signs of it much, much earlier. 344 00:32:37,956 --> 00:32:39,875 [Monk playing jazz music] 345 00:35:54,653 --> 00:35:56,112 Most people tend to run from it. 346 00:35:56,279 --> 00:35:58,740 That was the one thing that Nellie wouldn't allow us to do. 347 00:35:58,907 --> 00:36:01,701 I would have to say that my tendency as a kid was to run from it. 348 00:36:01,868 --> 00:36:04,287 I mean, I didn't know what the hell was going on. 349 00:36:04,871 --> 00:36:09,334 You know, it's a startling thing when you look your father in the eye 350 00:36:09,501 --> 00:36:14,255 and you know that he doesn't exactly know who you are, you know. 351 00:36:14,422 --> 00:36:16,466 And you tend to not wanna face that at all. 352 00:36:16,633 --> 00:36:20,220 You wanna act like that doesn't... [scoffs] That's not... 353 00:36:20,387 --> 00:36:21,554 This is not happening. 354 00:36:22,514 --> 00:36:25,308 But my mother clearly, uh, 355 00:36:25,934 --> 00:36:29,600 let me know that it was our responsibility... 356 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:31,064 ...to look out for this guy 357 00:36:31,231 --> 00:36:34,275 the way he looked out for us every minute he was able to. 358 00:36:34,442 --> 00:36:35,568 ♪ [piano jazz] 359 00:36:35,735 --> 00:36:39,489 [Colomby] She was trusting. She was a terrific friend. A friend. 360 00:36:39,656 --> 00:36:41,866 Total trust and dependence. 361 00:36:43,493 --> 00:36:47,414 She was operated on at that time and was in the hospital, 362 00:36:47,580 --> 00:36:53,044 and he was very, very tense, really very tense and unsettled. 363 00:36:53,211 --> 00:36:55,422 But he was working on that tune at that time. 364 00:36:57,132 --> 00:36:59,426 [playing jazz music on piano] 365 00:38:03,114 --> 00:38:04,824 ♪ [fades out] 366 00:38:08,203 --> 00:38:09,621 I don't know 367 00:38:10,371 --> 00:38:14,542 if he would have made the strides he made musically 368 00:38:14,709 --> 00:38:20,590 had there not been a Nellie for him to cover the other bases, uh, and... 369 00:38:21,841 --> 00:38:25,136 And have it all wrapped in love at the very same time. 370 00:38:25,303 --> 00:38:29,140 And she actually understood, I think, before anyone else around him, 371 00:38:29,307 --> 00:38:30,725 back when they were teenagers, 372 00:38:30,892 --> 00:38:35,188 she understood what it would take to allow this to grow. 373 00:38:36,648 --> 00:38:39,234 [Rouse] Nellie was like his right hand. 374 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:43,363 You know, she would, uh, tell him what to, you know... 375 00:38:43,530 --> 00:38:47,492 "You should wear this today, Thelonious,” or whatever, you know? 376 00:38:47,659 --> 00:38:52,080 And she looks... Looking after him, whatever, you know, food and everything. 377 00:38:53,039 --> 00:38:55,416 They were very, very close together. 378 00:38:55,959 --> 00:38:57,544 I think he wouldn't... 379 00:38:57,710 --> 00:39:00,004 He would be lost without her, out on the road. 380 00:39:00,755 --> 00:39:02,757 ♪ [piano jazz] 381 00:39:43,464 --> 00:39:45,800 [inaudible dialogue] 382 00:41:25,316 --> 00:41:28,695 [Jones] We had sold a tour based on an octet, 383 00:41:28,861 --> 00:41:32,740 and the complication with the octet was that Monk had the music. 384 00:41:33,908 --> 00:41:38,162 And before we could figure out what to do musically, 385 00:41:38,329 --> 00:41:39,664 we had to get a hold of this, 386 00:41:39,831 --> 00:41:43,418 and Monk never gave it to us until we got to the airport and on the plane. 387 00:41:44,127 --> 00:41:48,715 I remember going up to first class, and Nellie and Thelonious were there, 388 00:41:48,881 --> 00:41:51,627 and I said, "I-I need the music, Thelonious. 389 00:41:51,697 --> 00:41:54,887 I mean, I just have to have it. The guys have to see what's going on. 390 00:41:55,054 --> 00:41:57,265 Don't worry. I'll make sure it gets back to you." 391 00:41:57,432 --> 00:41:59,767 We brought it back, and immediately, 392 00:41:59,934 --> 00:42:02,270 it was distributed to the musicians in the back. 393 00:42:02,437 --> 00:42:05,523 And all four or five of us were sitting there copying the music 394 00:42:05,690 --> 00:42:06,774 all the way to London. 395 00:42:08,860 --> 00:42:12,113 We were gonna arrive in London and play the same evening. 396 00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:15,074 It had to be a little nerve-racking, as far as he was concerned, 397 00:42:15,241 --> 00:42:16,576 how this was gonna happen. 398 00:42:16,743 --> 00:42:18,173 Given his druthers, this man would have stayed... 399 00:42:18,243 --> 00:42:20,955 ...in New York, period. That would be the end of it. 400 00:42:23,082 --> 00:42:25,501 [band playing jazz music] 401 00:42:34,177 --> 00:42:36,179 [band continues playing] 402 00:42:36,888 --> 00:42:39,098 [inaudible dialogue] 403 00:42:53,946 --> 00:42:54,989 Hold it, hold it. 404 00:42:56,365 --> 00:43:00,369 - [inaudible dialogue] - [band continues playing] 405 00:43:01,037 --> 00:43:02,497 [audience member whistles] 406 00:43:08,711 --> 00:43:10,296 [music stops] 407 00:43:10,463 --> 00:43:12,381 [audience applauding, cheering] 408 00:43:18,346 --> 00:43:20,598 [playing solo] 409 00:43:27,980 --> 00:43:29,982 [band resumes playing] 410 00:43:32,068 --> 00:43:34,070 [humming along] 411 00:44:07,937 --> 00:44:09,814 ♪ [fades out] 412 00:44:12,692 --> 00:44:15,486 [Jones] He must have thought that he'd got off on the wrong foot 413 00:44:15,653 --> 00:44:17,530 and he was never gonna get back. 414 00:44:17,697 --> 00:44:19,532 [classical music playing on radio] 415 00:44:21,492 --> 00:44:24,829 I know he was nervous about the number of people we had. 416 00:44:24,996 --> 00:44:27,582 He must have at one point thought there weren't enough horns, 417 00:44:27,748 --> 00:44:29,542 that the way the charts were written, 418 00:44:29,709 --> 00:44:32,712 unless somebody really worked on these, they weren't gonna sound right. 419 00:44:33,296 --> 00:44:34,589 [Woods] How's it start, Monk? 420 00:44:34,755 --> 00:44:37,008 Do you play a chorus in front or does the band start? 421 00:44:37,175 --> 00:44:39,093 - You joining me? - Uh... Band starts. 422 00:44:39,260 --> 00:44:40,761 - [Woods] Band goes? - Yeah. 423 00:44:41,387 --> 00:44:43,639 What do you play, Ben, four bars, eight bars? 424 00:44:44,348 --> 00:44:46,434 I don't know. I really don't know. 425 00:44:47,101 --> 00:44:48,101 Does Ben play...? 426 00:44:48,561 --> 00:44:50,188 I'll play the introduction, 427 00:44:50,354 --> 00:44:52,857 and I'll let him play an introduction, then he plays, 428 00:44:53,024 --> 00:44:57,069 and then Rouse will play it with us together about two times, 429 00:44:57,236 --> 00:44:59,864 you know, which is a chorus, and then the band come in. 430 00:45:00,031 --> 00:45:01,751 - [Woods] The band comes after that? - Yeah. 431 00:45:01,908 --> 00:45:03,826 [band warming up] 432 00:45:06,162 --> 00:45:07,163 Ready? 433 00:45:07,330 --> 00:45:11,250 - [band murmurs, chuckles] - [playing solo] 434 00:45:32,021 --> 00:45:34,023 [band joins in] 435 00:45:44,867 --> 00:45:46,118 Tenor saxophone. 436 00:45:46,285 --> 00:45:48,246 [saxophone joins in] 437 00:45:48,412 --> 00:45:49,455 All right, go ahead. 438 00:45:59,757 --> 00:46:02,426 - [Gales] That's your solo. - Say, uh, Ray? 439 00:46:02,593 --> 00:46:04,595 You follow... You follow Rouse. 440 00:46:05,096 --> 00:46:08,266 - [Copeland] You want me to follow Rouse? - [Monk] That's the way it goes. 441 00:46:08,432 --> 00:46:10,402 It's tough, because it's exactly what you said. 442 00:46:10,472 --> 00:46:11,978 There's horns missing. 443 00:46:13,062 --> 00:46:14,355 Um, you play: 444 00:46:14,522 --> 00:46:16,440 [playing melody] 445 00:46:17,858 --> 00:46:21,404 That's the first half. Half. Not the time. The half. 446 00:46:21,570 --> 00:46:22,780 The second half: 447 00:46:22,947 --> 00:46:24,865 [playing melody] 448 00:46:25,950 --> 00:46:26,993 - Uh-huh. - You dig? 449 00:46:27,159 --> 00:46:28,536 How we gonna do it three times? 450 00:46:28,703 --> 00:46:31,163 Do it the same way, then go up the second time and do it... 451 00:46:31,330 --> 00:46:34,083 - Go... [Sings notes] and hold the note? - Six times. 452 00:46:34,250 --> 00:46:36,669 - Huh? Six times? - [Rouse] Yeah. 453 00:46:36,836 --> 00:46:40,548 Well, it's going to be lower, rhythm, and then high. 454 00:46:40,715 --> 00:46:42,675 - The whole thing? - It's a 16-bar refrain. 455 00:46:42,842 --> 00:46:45,886 - [Griffin] Sixteen bars every time? - And then 16, and then 16. 456 00:46:46,053 --> 00:46:47,555 - [Griffin] Ah-so. - Yeah. Okay. 457 00:46:47,722 --> 00:46:49,515 [Copeland] I dig you. I see what he's doing. 458 00:46:49,682 --> 00:46:52,518 - Slowly, slowly but surely. - [Woods] Yeah. 459 00:46:52,685 --> 00:46:54,562 [playing solo] 460 00:47:00,776 --> 00:47:03,070 [Woods] Any preference on your part for a solo order, 461 00:47:03,237 --> 00:47:04,530 or the way we did it all right? 462 00:47:04,697 --> 00:47:06,532 - [Monk] Uh... - Charles first? 463 00:47:07,491 --> 00:47:11,662 Yeah, he plays it first. Let's see how it goes. Okay? 464 00:47:12,580 --> 00:47:15,583 When you see a nice place for you to go in, then you pick it. 465 00:47:15,750 --> 00:47:19,045 You pick your spot where you think it's nice to go in and blow. Pick it. 466 00:47:19,211 --> 00:47:21,505 [band playing jazz music] 467 00:47:58,542 --> 00:48:00,544 [audience applauding] 468 00:48:00,711 --> 00:48:02,630 [band continues playing] 469 00:49:12,700 --> 00:49:15,077 [audience applauding] 470 00:49:15,244 --> 00:49:17,163 [band continues playing] 471 00:49:50,279 --> 00:49:52,031 [audience applauding] 472 00:49:52,198 --> 00:49:54,116 [band continues playing] 473 00:50:50,714 --> 00:50:52,424 - [song ends] - [audience applauding] 474 00:50:52,591 --> 00:50:53,634 Johnny Griffin. 475 00:50:54,176 --> 00:50:56,929 - Johnny Griffin. - [Griffin] Hey, what's going on, man? 476 00:50:57,096 --> 00:50:59,014 [crowd chattering] 477 00:51:01,225 --> 00:51:03,185 - A little chaser for you. - Thank you. 478 00:51:04,853 --> 00:51:07,189 [Jones] And I remember the audience went crazy. 479 00:51:07,356 --> 00:51:09,650 I mean, they were just... They were stunned. 480 00:51:09,817 --> 00:51:12,820 And I think he was literally stunned himself 481 00:51:12,987 --> 00:51:17,157 by the audience's reaction to this, 482 00:51:17,324 --> 00:51:20,828 and suddenly discovered, "Well, yeah, I mean, it's all working. 483 00:51:20,995 --> 00:51:23,455 It's not gonna be a disaster." 484 00:51:24,540 --> 00:51:26,584 [audience applauding, cheering] 485 00:51:26,750 --> 00:51:29,086 ♪ [jazz] 486 00:51:29,753 --> 00:51:31,589 [inaudible dialogue] 487 00:51:37,428 --> 00:51:39,430 [crowd chattering] 488 00:51:41,056 --> 00:51:42,766 How much? How we got right now? 489 00:51:42,933 --> 00:51:45,102 - [Nellie speaking indistinctly] - Huh? 490 00:51:45,269 --> 00:51:46,437 How much money? 491 00:51:46,604 --> 00:51:48,522 [both speaking indistinctly] 492 00:51:48,689 --> 00:51:50,608 ♪ [continues] 493 00:52:44,787 --> 00:52:46,955 [audience applauding, cheering] 494 00:52:49,375 --> 00:52:51,043 ♪ [fades out] 495 00:52:51,210 --> 00:52:53,754 - Yes. - We would like to have your signature, 496 00:52:53,921 --> 00:52:54,713 if you would. 497 00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:55,880 We all, uh... 498 00:52:57,299 --> 00:52:58,759 For Grace and Joyce. 499 00:52:58,926 --> 00:53:00,636 [crowd chattering] 500 00:53:00,803 --> 00:53:01,804 "Always... 501 00:53:02,680 --> 00:53:04,890 Thelonious Monk." [giggles] 502 00:53:05,057 --> 00:53:06,725 Very good. [giggles] 503 00:53:06,892 --> 00:53:08,644 Oh, thank you very, very much. 504 00:53:09,353 --> 00:53:11,105 - Thank you. - Thank you very much. 505 00:53:11,271 --> 00:53:12,690 - You're welcome. - Thank you. 506 00:53:14,942 --> 00:53:17,277 [Jones] When they went on the first world tour, 507 00:53:17,444 --> 00:53:19,863 they went from Geneva to Australia. 508 00:53:20,030 --> 00:53:22,866 When they got to Australia, they opened up the bags in Customs, 509 00:53:23,033 --> 00:53:25,119 and there were all these empty Coke bottles. 510 00:53:26,495 --> 00:53:27,496 Empty Coke bottles. 511 00:53:27,663 --> 00:53:29,373 Overweight, they paid overweight. 512 00:53:29,540 --> 00:53:32,793 The people were furious. "What are you doing with these bottles?" 513 00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:36,046 "Well, we gotta take them back." That was Nellie's answer. 514 00:53:36,213 --> 00:53:38,215 How are you? [chuckles] 515 00:53:39,049 --> 00:53:41,051 - Is Gracie with you? - [Monk] Huh? 516 00:53:41,218 --> 00:53:42,218 No? 517 00:53:42,469 --> 00:53:44,722 Gracie with you? Nellie? 518 00:53:44,888 --> 00:53:46,974 - Oh, yeah. She's over there. - Yes? 519 00:53:47,141 --> 00:53:48,141 Oh, yes. 520 00:53:48,225 --> 00:53:50,811 You never stay home alone, huh? 521 00:53:50,978 --> 00:53:52,896 - No. - [Nellie] Well... [chuckles] 522 00:53:53,063 --> 00:53:56,859 You like to travel with Mr. Thelonious, huh? 523 00:53:57,025 --> 00:53:57,776 Yes. 524 00:53:57,943 --> 00:53:59,236 - Yes? - Oh, yes. 525 00:53:59,862 --> 00:54:01,947 - You know me. - I know you, yes. 526 00:54:02,114 --> 00:54:04,491 [Nellie] I know he won't be late if... 527 00:54:04,658 --> 00:54:06,577 [audience applauding] 528 00:54:10,038 --> 00:54:11,039 [emcee] Thelonious. 529 00:54:11,999 --> 00:54:13,167 Thelonious Monk. 530 00:54:16,670 --> 00:54:18,672 [playing solo] 531 00:57:03,712 --> 00:57:07,049 - [song ends] - [audience applauding, cheering] 532 00:57:08,258 --> 00:57:10,218 Where you buy those motherfuckers from? 533 00:57:10,385 --> 00:57:11,637 - [Griffin] What? - Crazy pants. 534 00:57:11,803 --> 00:57:13,847 [Griffin] Yeah, Copenhagen. Danish ones. 535 00:57:15,515 --> 00:57:17,017 I bought them in Denmark. 536 00:57:18,185 --> 00:57:20,103 Sass, sex and satisfaction. 537 00:57:20,270 --> 00:57:21,355 [bus doors open] 538 00:57:23,190 --> 00:57:25,067 Some bad motherfuckers. 539 00:57:25,233 --> 00:57:27,778 [Griffin] You mean the stripes? [snickers] Yeah. 540 00:57:30,530 --> 00:57:31,530 [driver] Go. 541 00:57:32,157 --> 00:57:34,368 [Griffin] I think they expect us to get out here. 542 00:57:35,452 --> 00:57:38,747 - [Jones] We finished the whole thing. - [Griffin] The trip is over. 543 00:57:38,914 --> 00:57:42,250 [Riley] Thought you was gonna ride this all the way...? [chuckles] 544 00:57:42,417 --> 00:57:44,086 We're straight ahead, right? 545 00:57:53,220 --> 00:57:56,181 Do you have chicken livers and rice, something like that? 546 00:57:56,682 --> 00:57:57,766 [German accent] Chicken? 547 00:57:57,933 --> 00:57:59,893 - Uh-huh. Chicken liver. - [Jones] Chicken liver. 548 00:58:00,060 --> 00:58:01,060 Chicken liver. 549 00:58:02,437 --> 00:58:04,064 I don't think we have that, sir. 550 00:58:06,191 --> 00:58:07,442 No, we don't have that. 551 00:58:08,610 --> 00:58:09,861 Just a second, please. 552 00:58:12,447 --> 00:58:14,241 Chicken salad we have here, sir. 553 00:58:14,783 --> 00:58:16,910 - Chicken salad or chicken...? - What's that? 554 00:58:17,077 --> 00:58:18,077 [waiter] Chicken. 555 00:58:19,663 --> 00:58:21,039 Or chicken salad. 556 00:58:21,206 --> 00:58:22,541 How about just liver? 557 00:58:22,708 --> 00:58:24,418 [waiter] Liver? Ja. 558 00:58:24,584 --> 00:58:27,129 - Liver, and what goes with it? - [waiter] Veal liver. 559 00:58:27,295 --> 00:58:30,215 - Uh-huh. - [waiter] Ja? Veal liver with potatoes. 560 00:58:30,382 --> 00:58:32,676 French-fried potatoes or mashed potatoes. 561 00:58:32,843 --> 00:58:35,387 - Mashed potatoes. - [waiter] With mashed potatoes, la. 562 00:58:37,806 --> 00:58:40,517 - [Nellie] Oh, he has your food. - [waiter] Hello, sir. 563 00:58:43,270 --> 00:58:46,023 [Nellie] All right, you're gonna get up now, aren't you? 564 00:58:48,150 --> 00:58:49,776 You didn't bring no ice. 565 00:58:51,153 --> 00:58:53,155 [audience applauding] 566 00:59:01,788 --> 00:59:03,790 [band playing jazz music] 567 00:59:31,860 --> 00:59:33,862 [inaudible dialogue] 568 00:59:44,956 --> 00:59:46,958 ♪ [continues] 569 01:00:29,960 --> 01:00:31,878 [audience applauding] 570 01:00:35,799 --> 01:00:38,760 - What? - What is more important in your work, 571 01:00:38,927 --> 01:00:40,637 playing the piano or composing? 572 01:00:41,346 --> 01:00:43,223 - I do both. - Both. 573 01:00:43,849 --> 01:00:46,601 [speaking in German] 574 01:00:46,768 --> 01:00:51,690 Mr. Monk, you always wear different hats and caps in your concerts. 575 01:00:51,857 --> 01:00:54,317 Do they have an influence in your music? 576 01:00:55,402 --> 01:00:56,862 [chuckling] No. 577 01:00:57,028 --> 01:00:58,989 [all chuckling] 578 01:00:59,156 --> 01:01:01,825 - That's a good question. - Maybe they do, I don't know. 579 01:01:02,659 --> 01:01:05,996 And do you think that the piano has enough keys, 88? 580 01:01:06,163 --> 01:01:07,706 Or do you want more or less? 581 01:01:09,207 --> 01:01:12,085 I mean, it's hard work to play those 88. 582 01:01:12,252 --> 01:01:14,004 [all laughing] 583 01:01:14,171 --> 01:01:17,382 I was in the room, Nellie was in the room, backstage. 584 01:01:17,549 --> 01:01:20,886 And a reporter came and asked him what kind of music he liked. 585 01:01:21,052 --> 01:01:24,014 And Thelonious... "I like all kinds of music." 586 01:01:24,181 --> 01:01:25,807 Perfect, legitimate answer. 587 01:01:25,974 --> 01:01:29,186 And then the reporter said, "Well, do you like country music?" 588 01:01:29,686 --> 01:01:30,979 Thelonious didn't answer. 589 01:01:31,771 --> 01:01:34,316 And the reporter said, "Well, did you...? 590 01:01:35,025 --> 01:01:36,985 Well, do you like country music?" 591 01:01:37,152 --> 01:01:39,905 Thelonious didn't look at the reporter, he looked at me, and said: 592 01:01:40,071 --> 01:01:41,823 "I think the fellow's hard of hearing." 593 01:01:41,990 --> 01:01:43,825 [scales playing on trumpet] 594 01:01:52,000 --> 01:01:54,502 [grunting rhythmically] 595 01:01:54,669 --> 01:01:57,130 [band playing jazz music] 596 01:02:49,557 --> 01:02:51,559 [band continues playing] 597 01:03:38,231 --> 01:03:40,358 [audience applauding] 598 01:03:41,651 --> 01:03:43,653 [band continues playing] 599 01:04:21,232 --> 01:04:22,525 [song ends] 600 01:04:23,526 --> 01:04:24,736 Solid. 601 01:04:24,903 --> 01:04:26,821 [audience applauding, cheering] 602 01:04:35,663 --> 01:04:37,415 [inaudible dialogue] 603 01:04:45,340 --> 01:04:47,884 [audience clapping rhythmically] 604 01:04:49,260 --> 01:04:51,679 ♪ [piano jazz] 605 01:04:55,475 --> 01:04:56,768 What's up, man? Hey, man. 606 01:04:57,519 --> 01:04:59,521 [all chattering] 607 01:05:03,817 --> 01:05:05,443 - [man] I tell you. - How you been? 608 01:05:06,486 --> 01:05:07,904 [man] Check that out. 609 01:05:08,071 --> 01:05:10,323 [all chattering] 610 01:05:12,617 --> 01:05:13,785 [Monk] Yeah, I dig it. 611 01:05:25,380 --> 01:05:27,549 - How you doing, man? - You look great. 612 01:05:27,715 --> 01:05:29,050 - How you doing? - Good, man. 613 01:05:29,759 --> 01:05:31,761 [both speaking indistinctly] 614 01:05:38,309 --> 01:05:40,728 But towards the end of the month, I'll be busy. 615 01:05:40,895 --> 01:05:44,566 You know, I'll be going everywhere, but I don't know what I wanna do here. 616 01:05:44,732 --> 01:05:45,732 [chuckles] 617 01:05:53,950 --> 01:05:57,203 [man] Yo, Monk! Way to go, Monk! 618 01:05:57,370 --> 01:05:59,038 [all cheering] 619 01:06:05,962 --> 01:06:07,464 ♪ [fades out] 620 01:06:12,427 --> 01:06:14,429 - [Gordon] How are you feeling? - Oh, all right. 621 01:06:14,596 --> 01:06:17,515 Good. You're looking your best tonight, I noticed. 622 01:06:17,682 --> 01:06:19,184 - Hmm? - You're looking your best. 623 01:06:19,350 --> 01:06:21,269 Oh, this is an old suit, and, well... 624 01:06:21,436 --> 01:06:23,021 - Well, it's... - An old suit, yeah. 625 01:06:23,188 --> 01:06:24,898 Still pretty good for an old suit. 626 01:06:25,064 --> 01:06:27,984 Yeah, it's an old suit. I don't wear none of my new shit. 627 01:06:28,151 --> 01:06:30,069 [both chuckling] 628 01:06:30,236 --> 01:06:32,864 I can tell it's brand-new. [chuckles] 629 01:06:34,782 --> 01:06:37,535 - Hey, I got a present for you. - A million dollars? 630 01:06:37,702 --> 01:06:39,954 - No. [chuckles] Not quite. - [Monk] Oh. 631 01:06:40,455 --> 01:06:41,789 Here. Here. 632 01:06:42,582 --> 01:06:44,125 It's a... 633 01:06:44,292 --> 01:06:47,587 - It's a marker, you know. - [Monk] Yeah? To sign autographs, huh? 634 01:06:47,754 --> 01:06:48,754 [Nica] No, it's a... 635 01:06:49,380 --> 01:06:51,310 I don't never carry no pen with me. 636 01:06:51,380 --> 01:06:53,510 Sort of a present for your autographing. 637 01:06:53,676 --> 01:06:55,845 Yeah, but I don't like to carry a pen on me. 638 01:06:56,012 --> 01:06:59,766 - [Nica] You will. That's the point. - That's why I haven't gotten a pen. 639 01:06:59,933 --> 01:07:01,021 [Nica] But you'll have a pen... 640 01:07:01,091 --> 01:07:02,393 - ...you do like. - Saves energy. 641 01:07:02,560 --> 01:07:04,896 [Nica] It's the first time they've made it up like that. 642 01:07:06,189 --> 01:07:08,855 - This is a long one. - [Nica] I'll grab some paper for you. 643 01:07:08,925 --> 01:07:09,930 What is that? 644 01:07:10,000 --> 01:07:11,611 - Is that jive or it's real? - [Nica] No. 645 01:07:11,778 --> 01:07:15,114 - [Monk] What's this, silver? - [Nica] It's silver, but try the marker. 646 01:07:15,281 --> 01:07:18,618 - It's like a Magic Marker. - Mm-hm. 647 01:07:18,785 --> 01:07:20,703 [Nica] Well, that's not much for paper. 648 01:07:21,538 --> 01:07:23,915 Oh, that's a mess. [chuckling] 649 01:07:24,082 --> 01:07:25,875 You see? [chuckles] 650 01:07:26,042 --> 01:07:29,170 - Well, shut my mouth wide open. - [Nica] Here's a proper piece of paper. 651 01:07:29,754 --> 01:07:32,423 - Proper piece of paper. - [Nica] Yeah. [chuckles] 652 01:07:33,967 --> 01:07:35,677 [Monk] So I'll do it etiquettely. 653 01:07:40,014 --> 01:07:42,308 - Can you read that? - A beautiful message. 654 01:07:42,475 --> 01:07:45,520 If you get somebody who can decipher that and tell you what it means, 655 01:07:45,687 --> 01:07:48,606 dig what it means... [chuckles] ...you know, 656 01:07:48,773 --> 01:07:49,857 it'll upset you. 657 01:07:51,943 --> 01:07:53,820 Right. You'll flip. 658 01:07:54,779 --> 01:07:56,656 I mean, flip for real, you know? 659 01:07:56,823 --> 01:07:58,199 [all chuckle] 660 01:07:58,366 --> 01:08:00,285 [band playing jazz music] 661 01:09:23,159 --> 01:09:24,327 Isn't that right? 662 01:09:24,494 --> 01:09:30,291 The royal family came to your, uh, grandfather and said, uh... 663 01:09:30,458 --> 01:09:33,920 And crying the blues, you know, and all that, begging. 664 01:09:34,087 --> 01:09:37,298 And you laid the bread on him so he could beat Napoleon, right? 665 01:09:37,465 --> 01:09:40,677 - Ain't that a bitch? - [Nica] And we threw in the Suez Canal. 666 01:09:40,843 --> 01:09:43,513 - As a present. - That changed... That changed the world. 667 01:09:43,680 --> 01:09:46,849 - Ain't nobody's fault around round here. - [Mobley] But that was over here. 668 01:09:47,016 --> 01:09:50,019 I mean, I'm your press agent. I'll tell people who you are. 669 01:09:50,186 --> 01:09:52,814 [Mobley] This is the United States. We don't make distinctions. 670 01:09:52,980 --> 01:09:55,233 She's a billionaire. You know the Rothschilds? 671 01:09:57,568 --> 01:10:01,614 [Colomby] She told me that she wanted to meet him in the worst way. 672 01:10:01,781 --> 01:10:03,449 I know that she needed him a lot. 673 01:10:03,616 --> 01:10:06,869 She told me that, how... She said that, uh... 674 01:10:07,412 --> 01:10:09,664 she would feel a source of strength. 675 01:10:10,289 --> 01:10:13,334 <i>Uh, she had an interesting background. A woman of...</i> 676 01:10:14,001 --> 01:10:17,964 Was with the Free French Army and flew Lancaster bombers 677 01:10:18,131 --> 01:10:20,717 during the war, was in de Gaulle's Resistance. 678 01:10:20,883 --> 01:10:22,343 Kind of a rebel, you know. 679 01:10:24,137 --> 01:10:27,473 [Colomby] But Nellie never saw, in that relationship, a threat. 680 01:10:27,640 --> 01:10:31,769 Sometimes Nellie may have felt relieved that she came around 681 01:10:31,936 --> 01:10:34,856 when Thelonious was a little difficult. 682 01:10:35,022 --> 01:10:36,607 She was splitting duties. 683 01:10:36,774 --> 01:10:39,652 I don't think they had that plan. It just turned into that. 684 01:10:40,278 --> 01:10:42,447 You see the tongue here. [chuckles] 685 01:10:42,613 --> 01:10:44,031 I think he had a problem. 686 01:10:45,116 --> 01:10:46,116 You missed... 687 01:10:46,784 --> 01:10:49,787 That's your land, as you put it, very jungle-like. 688 01:10:49,954 --> 01:10:50,997 [Monk] Mm-hm. 689 01:10:51,164 --> 01:10:54,959 [Nica] I didn't meet Thelonious until 1954. 690 01:10:55,752 --> 01:11:00,506 Flew to Paris and got there just in time for his first overseas concert. 691 01:11:01,048 --> 01:11:03,801 And I went backstage afterwards, 692 01:11:03,968 --> 01:11:06,971 and Mary Lou Williams introduced me to him. 693 01:11:07,138 --> 01:11:08,264 That's how I met him. 694 01:11:08,431 --> 01:11:12,018 But we hung out for the rest of the time he was there, and we had a ball. 695 01:11:12,185 --> 01:11:13,478 He was there about a week. 696 01:11:13,644 --> 01:11:15,021 ♪ [jazz] 697 01:11:15,188 --> 01:11:19,275 Then I came back to New York a couple of months later. 698 01:11:19,442 --> 01:11:22,487 I was then living in the Stanhope. 699 01:11:22,653 --> 01:11:25,573 And, you know, like all the musicians used to come up there. 700 01:11:25,740 --> 01:11:29,035 But after Bird died there, they threw me out. 701 01:11:30,286 --> 01:11:31,871 Did you do the matinee? 702 01:11:33,039 --> 01:11:34,499 - On Sunday? No? - Mm-mm. 703 01:11:34,665 --> 01:11:36,793 No. Too much. 704 01:11:37,293 --> 01:11:39,295 [Nica] So then I went to the Bolivar. 705 01:11:39,879 --> 01:11:41,881 And that's when I got my piano. 706 01:11:42,048 --> 01:11:43,925 Thelonious and I got it together. 707 01:11:44,717 --> 01:11:49,472 That's where he wrote "Brilliant Corners" and "Bolivar Ba-lues-are Ba-lue.” 708 01:11:50,139 --> 01:11:52,558 At night, we'd go out round the clubs. 709 01:11:53,434 --> 01:11:56,813 And then all the musicians would come back with us to the Bolivar, 710 01:11:56,979 --> 01:12:00,066 and we'd have these fantastic jam sessions 711 01:12:00,233 --> 01:12:02,318 until 8 or 9 the next morning. 712 01:12:02,485 --> 01:12:06,197 So of course, eventually, that caused trouble. 713 01:12:06,823 --> 01:12:10,910 And, uh, I was thrown out of there. [laughs] 714 01:12:11,953 --> 01:12:15,456 Then we decided it was time I should get a house of my own. 715 01:12:16,082 --> 01:12:17,583 And I got this house. 716 01:12:19,627 --> 01:12:23,923 Which was known at first by Thelonious as "Catville." 717 01:12:25,174 --> 01:12:26,717 [meowing] 718 01:12:26,884 --> 01:12:31,639 [Monk] Hi, everybody. I'm very glad to be here today. 719 01:12:32,139 --> 01:12:36,978 I would like to play a little tune I just composed not so long ago 720 01:12:37,770 --> 01:12:39,564 entitled "Pannonica." 721 01:12:39,730 --> 01:12:41,148 It was named after... 722 01:12:42,233 --> 01:12:44,235 this beautiful lady here. 723 01:12:44,402 --> 01:12:47,780 I think her father gave her that name, 724 01:12:48,739 --> 01:12:51,409 uh, after a butterfly... 725 01:12:52,785 --> 01:12:54,245 that he tried to catch. 726 01:12:54,412 --> 01:12:56,289 I don't think he caught the butterfly. 727 01:12:56,789 --> 01:13:00,585 But anyway, here's the number I composed named after her. 728 01:13:00,751 --> 01:13:01,794 "Pannonica." 729 01:13:01,961 --> 01:13:03,880 ♪ [piano jazz] 730 01:14:55,616 --> 01:14:57,535 ♪ [ends] 731 01:14:59,996 --> 01:15:02,748 [Monk] Merci beaucoup, ladies and gentlemen. 732 01:15:03,457 --> 01:15:05,584 [Nica] Thank you, Thelonious Monk. 733 01:15:08,963 --> 01:15:10,881 - What are the chords? - [Monk] Oh, yeah. 734 01:15:11,382 --> 01:15:13,384 [playing chords] 735 01:15:27,231 --> 01:15:28,315 D-flat. 736 01:15:29,734 --> 01:15:31,193 Uh, yeah, D-flat, mm-hm. 737 01:15:31,360 --> 01:15:32,445 D. 738 01:15:32,611 --> 01:15:33,611 - D-flat. - D. 739 01:15:34,071 --> 01:15:36,115 D-flat. And then you want E-flat. 740 01:15:36,282 --> 01:15:38,200 E-flat what? D-flat what? 741 01:15:38,367 --> 01:15:39,535 D-flat-7. 742 01:15:39,702 --> 01:15:40,702 D-flat-7. 743 01:15:41,245 --> 01:15:43,622 - Uh-huh. - Uh-huh. 744 01:15:43,789 --> 01:15:44,789 [plays chord] 745 01:15:45,624 --> 01:15:48,127 Then, uh, I'm talking about right here. 746 01:15:48,294 --> 01:15:50,629 - G-minor-seven to D-flat. - [Monk] Yeah. Yeah. 747 01:15:50,796 --> 01:15:52,673 - [Rouse] G-minor-7. - [Monk] Mm-hm. 748 01:15:53,215 --> 01:15:55,551 [Rouse] G-minor-7. A-minor-7. 749 01:15:55,718 --> 01:15:57,678 - To what? To D-flat? - [Monk] Uh-huh. 750 01:15:57,845 --> 01:16:00,264 - [Rouse] That's two beats apiece? - [Monk] Uh, yeah. 751 01:16:01,766 --> 01:16:03,601 And then next bar. 752 01:16:03,768 --> 01:16:05,853 - [Monk] Next half of the bar is... - [Rouse] Yeah. 753 01:16:06,020 --> 01:16:07,688 - [Monk] ...G-flat-7. - [Rouse] Huh? 754 01:16:07,855 --> 01:16:09,857 - [Monk] G-flat-7. - [Rouse] D-flat-7. 755 01:16:10,024 --> 01:16:12,193 - [Monk] G-flat. - [Rouse] G-flat. G-flat. 756 01:16:12,359 --> 01:16:13,778 G-flat. 757 01:16:15,404 --> 01:16:18,365 [engineer over intercom] This'll be "Boo Boo's Birthday," take three. 758 01:16:19,033 --> 01:16:21,410 [playing solo] 759 01:16:25,414 --> 01:16:27,666 [band joins in] 760 01:16:34,507 --> 01:16:37,802 What you want me to hit? 'Cause what I did... I just wrote... 761 01:16:37,968 --> 01:16:41,013 You want me to hit the top note? I just wrote this here. 762 01:16:41,180 --> 01:16:42,723 What you want me to hit here? 763 01:16:47,103 --> 01:16:49,814 You want me to hit, uh, C? 764 01:16:52,108 --> 01:16:54,068 Or are my notes contrary? 765 01:16:54,235 --> 01:16:56,612 What you wanna see? Which one of the top notes...? 766 01:16:56,779 --> 01:16:59,865 Hit any of them. Hit any notes you want there. 767 01:17:00,032 --> 01:17:01,242 Any notes I want there? 768 01:17:01,408 --> 01:17:03,786 Yeah, you know, any of them that's here. 769 01:17:03,953 --> 01:17:05,955 - Yeah. Yeah. - You can hit any one of them. 770 01:17:06,122 --> 01:17:07,748 - That's all right. - All right, yes. 771 01:17:07,915 --> 01:17:10,084 I can hit D and C then, huh? 772 01:17:10,584 --> 01:17:12,336 [playing section] 773 01:17:15,005 --> 01:17:16,549 [Monk speaks indistinctly] 774 01:17:19,218 --> 01:17:21,011 Do I hit the top note right here? 775 01:17:21,178 --> 01:17:24,807 When I was here, I hit this note here, C. 776 01:17:24,974 --> 01:17:28,978 But right here, there's two notes. It's either C-sharp or C-natural. 777 01:17:29,603 --> 01:17:32,773 - Uh, yeah, hit either one of them. - Either one of those. 778 01:17:32,940 --> 01:17:34,066 - Yeah. - Mm-hm. 779 01:17:34,233 --> 01:17:36,360 - [playing melody] - [Jackson humming along] 780 01:17:36,527 --> 01:17:38,737 F-sharp-7, B-7 to C-flat. 781 01:17:38,904 --> 01:17:40,823 [humming along] 782 01:17:41,782 --> 01:17:44,118 A-flat, A-flat, G. 783 01:17:44,285 --> 01:17:45,995 Now hold on to scale there. 784 01:17:46,162 --> 01:17:47,538 A holds on scale there? 785 01:17:47,705 --> 01:17:49,206 Then an A-flat-7. 786 01:17:50,416 --> 01:17:52,042 - Oh, okay. - A-flat-7. 787 01:17:52,209 --> 01:17:52,960 All right. 788 01:17:53,127 --> 01:17:55,212 And he ends in D-flat. 789 01:17:56,797 --> 01:17:58,382 [humming] 790 01:18:02,553 --> 01:18:05,306 Sure, he does something like that. He does something like that. 791 01:18:05,472 --> 01:18:06,682 [mimics piano notes] 792 01:18:10,311 --> 01:18:12,313 [playing jazz music] 793 01:20:22,318 --> 01:20:24,320 ♪ [continues] 794 01:21:05,736 --> 01:21:06,736 ♪ [fades out] 795 01:21:06,820 --> 01:21:10,324 Gee, it's very hard to say anything about, because he was... 796 01:21:10,824 --> 01:21:13,160 The time I was with him, just before... 797 01:21:13,327 --> 01:21:16,372 Prior to leaving, he was right into it, you know. 798 01:21:16,538 --> 01:21:18,123 I never would think, or thought, 799 01:21:18,290 --> 01:21:21,293 that he would stop all of a sudden and not play. 800 01:21:21,460 --> 01:21:23,796 But something happened. Something clicked in him. 801 01:21:23,962 --> 01:21:26,590 He didn't want to play anymore. 802 01:21:27,966 --> 01:21:31,553 I know I've asked him a couple times. He never gave me any reason. 803 01:21:31,720 --> 01:21:33,806 Said, "I just don't feel like playing no more." 804 01:21:34,306 --> 01:21:38,727 Whatever ailed him just overwhelmed him, and he just withdrew. 805 01:21:38,894 --> 01:21:42,773 I don't think it was an anger or a... 806 01:21:43,357 --> 01:21:45,901 You know, about music. It had nothing to do with music. 807 01:21:46,068 --> 01:21:50,322 It had to do with him and his energy and his outlook and his life and... 808 01:21:50,823 --> 01:21:52,908 It had nothing to do with music. Nothing. 809 01:21:53,075 --> 01:21:55,369 Like, "I'm not play... I haven't got it anymore." 810 01:21:55,536 --> 01:21:57,906 I know it wasn't that. I'm not in his brain, 811 01:21:57,976 --> 01:22:01,333 but I know that couldn't have been what it was. 812 01:22:02,668 --> 01:22:04,670 ♪ ["Monk's Mood"] 813 01:22:09,133 --> 01:22:12,636 [Nica] We were driving home from New York. 814 01:22:12,803 --> 01:22:16,306 This was the first year he lived here, 1972. 815 01:22:16,932 --> 01:22:21,061 And he suddenly turned to me and said, "I am very seriously ill." 816 01:22:21,687 --> 01:22:24,648 This is the only thing Thelonious has ever been heard to say 817 01:22:24,815 --> 01:22:26,108 about being ill at all. 818 01:22:26,775 --> 01:22:28,277 He never said it again. 819 01:22:28,861 --> 01:22:30,863 ♪ [continues] 820 01:23:04,062 --> 01:23:09,610 [Thelonious Jr.] Thelonious, uh, died on February 17th, 1982. 821 01:23:10,527 --> 01:23:13,822 He had a cerebral hemorrhage, and he was in a coma for 12 days. 822 01:23:15,574 --> 01:23:19,870 And he passed away very quietly in his sleep. 823 01:23:20,037 --> 01:23:21,997 And the last person with him was Nellie. 824 01:23:22,164 --> 01:23:24,333 ♪ [continues] 825 01:24:27,938 --> 01:24:29,398 ♪ [ends] 826 01:24:31,567 --> 01:24:33,110 [audience applauding] 827 01:24:33,277 --> 01:24:36,196 [playing "Sweetheart of All My Dreams" on piano] 828 01:26:06,203 --> 01:26:08,163 [audience applauding] 829 01:26:23,845 --> 01:26:25,847 ♪ ["Round Midnight"] 830 01:28:56,456 --> 01:28:58,875 ♪ [continues] 831 01:29:31,199 --> 01:29:32,409 ♪ [ends] 831 01:29:33,305 --> 01:30:33,784 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm