Your Daily Dose of Jam 2-5-09

I've always been fascinated by Monks. Need proof? My favorite TV show? Monk (see left). If I weren't so ADD, my favorite pastime would be Tibetan sand art with Monks (see above). Hopefully someday I can become half as good as one of my favorite jazz pianists, Thelonious Monk (see below). Here he is with Ruby, My Dear.

He always wore a hat, and not just some brim, fedora, or beret, but funky, goofy, eccentric hats. Sometimes "shades." From what I’ve read, he was moody, maybe unpredictable like his notes. Awkward stage presence. And he never liked playing outside New York. But while that’s part of the lore, appeal, and mystique, it’s the “wrong notes” the “piano dissonance” that is synonymous with the one-of-a-kind Thelonious Monk. According to the acclaimed official monk site (http://www.monkzone.com/), in 1961 tMonk hinted at the method in this musical madness,“You know, anybody can play a composition and use far-out chords and make it sound wrong. It’s making it sound right that’s not easy.”