The Drive, Ability and Intellect of Thelonious Monk.

From as early as eleven years old Thelonious Monk began to show a gift for playing the piano. He learned about jazz from some of the accomplished jazz players of his day who happened to live in his Harlem neighborhood: Alto saxophonist Benny Carter, pianist Freddy Johnson, reed player Russell Procope and trumpeter James "Bubber" Miley. Miley was the trumpet player in the Duke Ellington Orchestra and as such must have made quite an impression on young Thelonious.

One must be careful though, not to overlook the support and encouragement that were given to Thelonious Monk by his mother, Barbara Monk, to follow the musical path of his choosing. This woman literally 'slaved', scrubbing floors, to provide for her children. They were Thelonious, Thomas and Marion.

The first thing Monk had to over come in Harlem, New York as a youth was the white street gangs made up mainly of Italians. He quickly gained a reputation as a fearsome pugilist after standing up for and defending one of his friends against one of these gangs. This attitude and disposition to help others weaker than himself would often be displayed by Monk throughout his life.

Monk took piano lessons from a man named Simon Wolf who used to teach some of the other neighborhood kids. He introduced Monk to works by Chopin, Beethoven, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Mozart. Monk quickly displayed an uncanny mastery of the works of these composers along with a wide range of musical interests. Thelonious Monk knew then that he was gifted.

But one of the most significant and long-lasting influences on young Thelonious came in the form of a local jazz musician, a woman named Alberta Simmons. Alberta Simmons introduced him into the company, styles and rhythms of the present day stride piano greats such as Eubie Blake, James P. Johnson and Fats Waller. For these giants, piano playing and jam sessions were like a religion. For Thelonious Monk they were the architects of his musical foundation.

By the time Thelonious Monk was sixteen years old he formed his own band, and was also playing piano in the church his mother attended. The band played gigs all over New York city; rent parties, clubs, house parties, even the Apollo Theatre. Incredibly around the age of seventeen, Monk left New York city with his small band for a two-year tour around the country playing jazz for a woman evangelist whose intended mission was to "save souls."

Thelonious Monk's return to New York from his "tour" heralded decades-long periods of hardship because of chronic unemployment, debilitating under-employment, police harassment and brutality brought on primarily by suffocating jim crow laws. Yet, Monk with the unyielding help of his family, found a way to survive and drive himself. He began to see himself as a composer, who in retrospect, was far ahead of his time. No doubt a lesser person would have succumbed to the bad press and negative reviews that described his early work; but many of his peer musicians knew instinctively that his music was revolutionary, had quality, and they respected his talent as a pianist.

One of these musicians, who became his mentor, was Coleman Hawkins. Hawkins once gave Thelonious Monk a piece of seminal advice about his compositions. He in effect told Monk, not to worry about whether the public or the critics, for that matter, liked or approved of his music, to just go ahead and continue to compose and let them catch up to him later. Monk followed this advice to the letter, and Coleman Hawkins proved to be correct. Associations like this gave Monk the drive and dogged determination to persevere and to succeed.

Those people who were fortunate enough to engage Thelonious Monk in serious discourse, discovered a man who was surprisingly well read in the arts, philosophy, world affairs and well schooled in music theory. He was engaging, witty and as Dr. Kelley states eloquently in his book: "possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of hymns, gospel music, American popular songs and a variety of obscure art songs that defy easy categorization," thanks to the teachings and exposure to this culture by his mother when he was growing up.

NEXT: Teacher to music icons and others.

Thelonious Monk: Madman or Musical Genius?

Before I read the book: "Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original" by Robin D. G. Kelley:  I knew very little about Monk beyond the fact that he had written several stunning jazz music classics that I found irresistible; namely, "Round Midnight", "Straight No Chaser", "In Walked Bud", "Blue Monk" and "Well You Needn't." I am sure that I am not alone in this regard. I had only music, photos and a few videos with which to form my own opinion of who Monk was.

To be honest, I thought Monk was one hell of a jazz music composer, therefore he had to be a little "weird." Now since perusing Kelley's book, not once, but twice (I was totally floored by all the jazz myths that were vaporized in the first reading, that I had go through the book a second time to make sure that my eyes got it all right the first time). But later for those jazz myths.

As I said, I thought that Monk appeared to be a weird musician. Weird in the sense that just looking at pictures of the man made you 'feel' how different he must be. They all seemed to say, to me at least; "I am Thelonious Monk, I don't care who you are and I don't care what you think!" Therefore in my mind, it became no stretch to relegate him to the category of "talented but crazy."

Now some 900 pages later Monk emerges as one of the most important jazz composers in the history of the genre. A musical genius of indomitable drive, ability and intellect. Uncompromising, original, a consummate teacher and instructor to other jazz icons, a dedicated, principled, moral family man.

I came away with a profound respect and genuine "liking' for Thelonious Monk the person, outside of the obvious attraction to his influential and compelling jazz music compositions.

Kelley's book is powerful scholarship and indispensable for any person seriously concerned about the history of jazz. I ask the indulgence of those who have had the pleasure of reading his book at including some of its key information in these posts. For those who have not had the opportunity or the time to read it, I hope you find the following posts informative, interesting, educational and worthwhile.

The above video was from a concert in Baden-Baden, Germany (1963). The tenor saxophonist is longtime Monk associate, Charlie Rouse; bassist John Ore; and drummer Frankie Dunlop. Dunlop was a very fine drummer, but he eventually gave up drumming to pursue acting.

In the video Monk is seen getting up from the piano and walking around, sometimes he would dance. At the time this was regarded as one of Monk's many eccentricities, but in reality, it was the onset of far deeper psychological problems that would affect Monk as the years went by.

NEXT POST: The indomitable drive, ability and intellect of T. S. Monk.

Exclusive for Barbados Jazz Music Lovers.

Barbadians might be pleasantly surprised to learn of the important contributions to, and influences on Jazz music made by Barbadians dating back to the 1920's. One Barbados Jazz musician of note from that period was Jazz Drummer Denzil DaCosta Best. Best worked with the legendary Jazz Composer Thelonious Sphere Monk and co-wrote the now classic tune "Bemsha Swing" as a tribute to Barbados. Originally, the name given to the tune was "Bimshire Swing", "Bimshire" being another name for the island of Barbados. Denzil Best started out as a trumpeter, but later switched to the drums. Best also wrote a tune called "Wee" which was recorded by Thelonious Monk along with the well known jazz standard "Move" which is featured on Miles Davis' "Birth Of The Cool" ground breaking 1950's Jazz Classic album. Denzil Best died from injuries sustained in a fall in New York City in 1964, he was forty-eight.

Another person with strong Barbados roots who had a historical connection to New York jazz in the 1920's was one Louis Taylor. In 1928 Taylor was a thirteen year old piano prodigy who lived a few doors down from Thelonious Monk at 227 W. 63rd St., NYC. He beat out Monk in a piano contest for a scholarship to Julliard School of Music.

Then there was Harold Francis, whose parents were from Barbados. Francis, an excellent pianist, befriended Thelonious during their high school years. These two spent many hours together, taking turns playing for each other on the piano. Harold Francis eventually became the pianist/arranger for the famous vocal group, The Ink Spots.

When Thelonious Monk first signed on with Prestige Records in 1952, he chose a trio setting for his initial recording date. It consisted of a renowned bassist from Barbados named Gary Mapp, with Art Blakey on drums. Mapp worked as Transit Policeman by day, and was known as "The Hip Cop." Gary Mapp used to lead his own band at Tony's Club Grandean, located in Brooklyn at Grand and Dean Avenues. Mapp also played in bands around New York with such well known jazz giants as Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, Kenny Dorham and others.

It must be noted that during the 1920's in San Juan Hill, N. Y. where Thelonious Monk lived there was a rich mixture of immigrants from the West Indies,and there was lots of Caribbean music pouring out of radios and apartments which Monk absorbed. He heard calypsonians such as Lord Invader, Atilla The Hun, Roaring Lion and others. This Caribbean influence can be heard in the Monk compositions, "Bye-Ya" and "Bemsha Swing."

Credit for the information and research contained in this blog post goes to Dr. Robin D. G. Kelley, Professor of History and American Studies at the University of Southern California, in whose book "Thelonious Monk: The life and times of an American Original" the above information can be found. The book is published by Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1230 Avenue of The Americas, New York, N. Y. 10020.