![]() ![]() After Monk spent a few more years in penniless obscurity, suddenly, most of New York City went to the Five Spot, where he was in residence for multiple months in 1957. To help generate publicity, the Blue Note label dubbed him “the high priest” for his first records, as a bandleader, in the late nineteen-forties. For those who couldn’t tell he was an unusual musician simply from listening, the visuals were a helpful guide: outrageously idiosyncratic percussive piano techniques and long, spastic dances, not to mention a wardrobe of impeccable flash and taste.Īt the beginning, Thelonious Monk was a shadowy figure known only to fellow-innovators. The blues that were an unchanging constant. The memorable melodies that sat atop a virtuosic harmonic conception, emphasizing unexpected dissonances. ![]() The avant-garde music that verged on conceptual art but was delivered at a relaxed and buoyant foxtrot. ![]() There was always something to talk about. ![]()
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