Blog 4: The High Priest of Jazz
“There’s no reason why I should go
through that Black Power shit now. I guess everybody in New York had to do
that, right? Because every block is a different town. It was mean all over New
York, all the boroughs. Then, besides fighting the ofays, you had to fight each
other. You go to the next block and you’re in another country.” (p. 19) Larry
Ridley recalled: "contrary to that attempt to portray him [Thelonius] as
some people did as wierd or whatever, he was a very bright and brilliant
person.... I remember telling Thelonius how I was sick of whites calling
us `boys' and stuff like that. He said, `Ain't no drag, Larry, because
everybody wants to be young.'" (p. 417)
What aspects of his community did Monk allude to in the above quotes? How did that community shape his music? How did he try to transcend traditional racial politics? Does his strategy take on added poignancy in light of his arrests, especially with Nica in Delaware in 1958? What kind of community did he and his art foster?
In the quotes, Monk alludes to the racism and segregation rampant within his community growing up. Thelonious grew up in the midst of intolerance and worldwide turmoil following World War I and through World War II. As a boy in the 1920s, he attended a summer camp where he was chosen to be the guest of the firemen stationed there, ringing bells on the fire truck and wearing his own uniform. Yet he seems to have been chosen in jest, according to a tradition of “white institutions choosing ‘colored boys’ to serve as mascots, essentially pets.” (p. 20) Furthermore, shortly after his family moved to San Juan Hill, a seedy neighborhood of Manhattan, it was declared the “busiest crime area in New York City.” (p. 19) Growing up in this heated environment, Monk had no choice but to adapt and overcome intolerance and discrimination.
The community shaped his music in that it gave him the inspiration to play in an avant-garde, dissonant style. His music reflected the troubled community he grew up in. Beginning on the fourth of July, 1957, Monk began playing at what would become his musical home away from home, the Five Spot Café. (p. 225) Originally a club for poets and lesser-known jazz musicians, Thelonious turned the Five Spot into a jazz club known worldwide as the home of Thelonious Monk. Known for its fascinating array of customers coming from all walks and races of life, the Five Spot was anything but segregated. It was an ideal breeding ground for Monk’s ingenious musical ideas, away from the distractions brought by intolerance and racism. Despite his strange styles and criticism from others, he strove on with his unique ways and ultimately succeeded in capturing the ears of the American people.
Monk was a race rebel. In addition to garnering an immense gathering of both white and colored fans, he befriended many important whites including his supportive manager Harry Colomby and the famous jazz patroness Baroness Nica. The two were always there for him, Colomby on the constant lookout for jobs and getting his Cabaret Card back on occasion, and Nica acting as his muse. His relationship with Nica was especially transcendent of racial norms; he would often spend days at a time at her extravagant home, unheard of between unromantic black men and white women at the time. (p. 240) Despite constant subjection to racism, he refused to respond with increased racial consciousness, as Miles Davis did. (Lecture)
In 1958, Monk was escorted off the premises of a Delaware hotel by a couple of (white) police officers. As he, Nica, and Rouse drove away for the freeway, the same officers pulled them over and asked him to step out. When he refused and resisted they beat his hands badly and arrested him. Thelonious was extremely hostile and resistant during the legal proceedings. Yet while recovering in the hospital, Monk was receiving international media recognition for his work. (p. 253-5) This ordeal is indicative of the conditions Monk faced growing up and living in the mid-19th century. Even as an international musical sensation he could not escape the intolerant attitudes of some whites of the time.
Although his music was at first not understood by many, it attracted a new community of artists and young people tired of the old and the traditional and thirsting for something new. Monk “used his art to create a new community, a bohemian community bound together by a tolerance for modernity, for dissonance in music and for the avant-garde in art and life.” (Lecture) Monk’s experiences growing up in San Juan Hill, his tenure at the Five Spot, his transcendence of racial norms, and his eventual international fame allowed him to break down the de facto racial barrier of his time.
What aspects of his community did Monk allude to in the above quotes? How did that community shape his music? How did he try to transcend traditional racial politics? Does his strategy take on added poignancy in light of his arrests, especially with Nica in Delaware in 1958? What kind of community did he and his art foster?
In the quotes, Monk alludes to the racism and segregation rampant within his community growing up. Thelonious grew up in the midst of intolerance and worldwide turmoil following World War I and through World War II. As a boy in the 1920s, he attended a summer camp where he was chosen to be the guest of the firemen stationed there, ringing bells on the fire truck and wearing his own uniform. Yet he seems to have been chosen in jest, according to a tradition of “white institutions choosing ‘colored boys’ to serve as mascots, essentially pets.” (p. 20) Furthermore, shortly after his family moved to San Juan Hill, a seedy neighborhood of Manhattan, it was declared the “busiest crime area in New York City.” (p. 19) Growing up in this heated environment, Monk had no choice but to adapt and overcome intolerance and discrimination.
The community shaped his music in that it gave him the inspiration to play in an avant-garde, dissonant style. His music reflected the troubled community he grew up in. Beginning on the fourth of July, 1957, Monk began playing at what would become his musical home away from home, the Five Spot Café. (p. 225) Originally a club for poets and lesser-known jazz musicians, Thelonious turned the Five Spot into a jazz club known worldwide as the home of Thelonious Monk. Known for its fascinating array of customers coming from all walks and races of life, the Five Spot was anything but segregated. It was an ideal breeding ground for Monk’s ingenious musical ideas, away from the distractions brought by intolerance and racism. Despite his strange styles and criticism from others, he strove on with his unique ways and ultimately succeeded in capturing the ears of the American people.
Monk was a race rebel. In addition to garnering an immense gathering of both white and colored fans, he befriended many important whites including his supportive manager Harry Colomby and the famous jazz patroness Baroness Nica. The two were always there for him, Colomby on the constant lookout for jobs and getting his Cabaret Card back on occasion, and Nica acting as his muse. His relationship with Nica was especially transcendent of racial norms; he would often spend days at a time at her extravagant home, unheard of between unromantic black men and white women at the time. (p. 240) Despite constant subjection to racism, he refused to respond with increased racial consciousness, as Miles Davis did. (Lecture)
In 1958, Monk was escorted off the premises of a Delaware hotel by a couple of (white) police officers. As he, Nica, and Rouse drove away for the freeway, the same officers pulled them over and asked him to step out. When he refused and resisted they beat his hands badly and arrested him. Thelonious was extremely hostile and resistant during the legal proceedings. Yet while recovering in the hospital, Monk was receiving international media recognition for his work. (p. 253-5) This ordeal is indicative of the conditions Monk faced growing up and living in the mid-19th century. Even as an international musical sensation he could not escape the intolerant attitudes of some whites of the time.
Although his music was at first not understood by many, it attracted a new community of artists and young people tired of the old and the traditional and thirsting for something new. Monk “used his art to create a new community, a bohemian community bound together by a tolerance for modernity, for dissonance in music and for the avant-garde in art and life.” (Lecture) Monk’s experiences growing up in San Juan Hill, his tenure at the Five Spot, his transcendence of racial norms, and his eventual international fame allowed him to break down the de facto racial barrier of his time.
Really well read. I can tell you took a look at the source material. Also, you made really great points about Monk's relationship with whits like Baroness Nica and Harry Colomby. Cool that you also really pressed that avant garde aspect of his music. I think that feature is really important when talking about Monk. Interesting how you wove the arrest into it as well. You are very descriptive in your retelling, and you did a good job connecting the incident to the day to day struggles that many blacks faced. You pointed to this scenario and you made clear that Thelonious had become accustomed to such behavior but that through bohemianism, one could express the dissonance associated with a society built on injustice within a just order.
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