Thelonious Monk : Palo Alto

In 1968 Thelonious Monk was in poor health, with little money in the bank, and sadly seen in the jazz world as “stale” and “out of touch” by the jazz snobs at Downbeat Magazine(the same ones that thought Miles Davis was violating jazz protocol with the masterpiece Bitches Brew.) Thelonious Monk, the man who just […]

Monk at 100

Not that the man is celebrating given that he’s been on the other side now for over 37 years. But if Thelonious Monk was still among the living he’d be celebrating a century on this earth. Even though he only lived to be 64-years old, the man blazed a musical trail of legends. His work […]

A Life In Albums : Part Two

Thelonious Monk Quartet : Monk’s Dream I really can’t remember the reason why I bought Monk’s Dream. I was 21 years old and living in an apartment with my girlfriend at the time(summer/fall of 1995 to be exact.) We both had good jobs at the same company but worked different shifts, so while she would […]

Giants on my front porch

When I got home from work I saw a couple square packages waiting on the front porch. Oh boy! My recent Discogs purchases arrived! As you may or may not recall, I’ve been on a real jazz kick lately. I’ve been perusing back catalogs of some of my favorite guys; Davis, Coltrane, Monk, Winklehammer. So […]