Stories of distinctive and requiring composers and bandleaders abound in mid-century jazz– of leaders who pushed their musicians to new heights and in entirely brand-new directions through seeming sheer force of will. Miles Davis’ name inevitably shows up in such discussions. Davis was “not a client man,” jazz historian Dan Morgenstern remarks, “and I think he got impatient with himself just as he made with other individuals.” Jazz and other types of music have been immeasurably enriched by that impatience.
Other bop eccentrics– like John Coltrane– brought their own personality quirks and individual battles to bear upon their styles, pushing towards new insights and experiments that shaped the future of the music. Their peer Thelonious Monk,, “the jobbing artist who couldn’t, more than wouldn’t, comply with the conventions of the task,” seemed the odd guy out. He “spent the majority of his professional life having a hard time to support his family.” Monk’s “misdiagnosed and ignorantly medicated bipolar condition” and his stubborn refusal to follow trends made it difficult for him to attain the success he should have.
However it was Monk’s inability to do things any method however his method that comprised the essence of his achievement– his insistence on “playing angular, spacious and ‘slow,'” his “difficult and strange” silences. A musical prodigy, Monk honed his piano chops in Baptist churches and New York rent parties prior to his residency as house pianist for Teddy Hill’s band at the well known Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem, where he helped introduce the “bebop transformation.” While he “charted a brand-new course for modern music few wanted to follow,” keeps in mind All About Jazz, those who did learned a new way of playing, Monk’s method.
What does that indicate? The list above, as transcribed by saxophonist Steve Lacy, lays it all out. “T. Monk’s Recommendations,” as it’s called, uses standards, tips, and pointed commands. A few of these guidelines relate directly to live efficiency (“don’t sound anybody for a gig, just be on the scene,” “avoid the hecklers”). Others get at the heart of Monk’s genius– his skill for developing area, both inside the arrangements and in between the notes. Monk ensures he’s the just one playing “strange notes,” demanding that artists “play the melody!” “Don’t play the piano part,” he states, “I am playing that.” And he peppers the list with cryptic philosophical and social observations (“discrimination is very important,” “always understand,” “a genius is the one most like himself”).
In the last item on the list (cut off in the image above), Monk veers dramatically away from music with some funny social commentary. It’s a relocation that’s typical Monk– both deeply serious and playful, entirely unforeseen, and leaving us, as he instructs his artists, “desiring more.”
See a transcription of Monk’s list of advice for musicians listed below.
Even if you’re not a drummer, doesn’t indicate that you do not need to keep time.
Pat your foot and sing the tune in your head when you play.
Stop playing all that bullshit, those weird notes, play the melody!
Make the drummer sound good.
Discrimination is important.
You’ve got to dig it to dig it, you dig?
It needs to be always night, otherwise they would not require the lights.
Let’s lift the band stand!!
I want to prevent the hecklers.
Don’t play the piano part, I am playing that. Do not listen to me, I am expected to be accompanying you!
The within the tune (the bridge) is the part that makes the outside sound great.
Don’t play everything (or everytime); let some things go by. Some music simply thought of.
What you do not play can be more vital than what you do play.
A note can be little as a pin or as big as the world, it depends upon your imagination.
Stay in shape! Often a musician waits on a gig & & when it comes, he runs out shape & & can’t make it.
When you are swinging, swing some more!
(What should we wear tonight?) Sharp as possible!
Constantly leave them desiring more.
Don’t sound any person for a gig, simply be on the scene.
Those pieces were composed so as to have something to play & & to get cats interested enough to come to wedding rehearsal!
You have actually got it! If you don’t wish to play, inform a joke or dance, but in any case, you got it! (to a drummer who didn’t desire to solo).
Whatever you think can’t be done, someone will occur & & do it. A genius is the one most like himself.
They attempted to get me to hate white individuals, however someone would always come along & ruin it.
This content was originally published here.