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Monk Calls the Tune

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A nice example of Thelonious Monk’s dealings with his fellow musicians comes in Robin Kelley’s recent book*, where he describes a recording session involving the renowned saxophonists, Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane, both of whom were having difficulties with the arrangements they’d been asked to play.

When Hawkins asked for some explanation, he got an earful. Art Blakey remembers, “Monk said to Hawk, ‘You’re the great Coleman Hawkins, right?’ Hawk agreed. Then Monk said to Trane, ‘You’re the great John Coltrane, right?’ Trane blushed, and mumbled, ‘Aw … I’m not so great.’ Then Monk said to both of them. ‘You both play saxophone, right?’ They nodded. ‘Well, the music is on the horn. Between the two of you, you should be able to find it,’”

* Thelonious Monk: The Life & Times of an American Original – Robin D. G. Kelley

And there’s a good web site devoted to Monk and this book about him here …



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