Comments on: Monk and the Butterfly

By: admin

admin — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 13:42:59 +0000

Thanks Henry... Great story, and I encourage everyone to head over to henryniese.com and check out your wonderful works of art.

By: Henry Niese

Henry Niese — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 04:56:18 +0000

Beautiful!
I 1st saw Monk playing in a Newark, NJ bar in 1948. It was stunning, incomprehensible.
In 1957 at the 5 Spot, he took a break while Coltrane was soloing, & went to the men’s room. Trane took chorus after chorus, desperately casting his eyes to the back of the joint where the plumbing was. Monk reaches the bandstand at the last second, reaches over the piano & hits one note – in tempo,
walks around the piano, sits down & plays.
The poster for my 1st one man show at ‘G’ Gallery was on the wall behind the piano.

By: paul

paul — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 06:25:26 +0000

Watching the film right now…..what a great story. We can still hear Monk in modern Jazz to this day

By: admin

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:17:04 +0000

Monk’s attack on Rootie has kind of a rock ‘n roll feel to it… No wonder NRBQ covered it.

By: Matous

Matous — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:12:36 +0000

Great post.
As time goes by, Monk’s music and legacy just grows stronger. Liked that you included “Little Rootie Tootie” – it rivals “Jackie-Ing” for audacity. And, “Misterioso” is the tune that always pleases.

By: admin

admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:35:55 +0000

Thanks, Julie… I love the line in the movie where Hannah tells Nica some “tramps” are drinking and hanging out in her Bentley parked outside, and she replies “Good, that means it won’t get stolen”!

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:02:54 +0000

Another great article, Tim…I watched the film a little while ago and although I must admit, jazz is not my favorite genre, I loved the film and the artistic approach it took to describing the time, personalities, and music. I’ll also admit that Nica’s is the life I wish I’d lived….oh, to be able to be a real patron of the arts…without the corporate strings and logos! (Sigh….)

By: admin

admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:14:36 +0000

Thanks, Kevin… I couldn’t agree more. Patronage was essential to these artists — we could use a lot more of it today.

By: kevin swan

kevin swan — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:17:42 +0000

Thanks for the great reminder of Monk and the mystery of creativity; the world could benefit from a few more of these unlikely artist/patron pairings. (Local angle: Monk played Cleveland’s Leo’s Casino, I think 1960; later that club, at a different location in Cleveland, would be the site of Otis Redding’s final show.)