Monk

by Laurent De Wilde

Parmi les génies que compte la musique négro-américaine, Thelonious Sphere Monk est certainement le plus étrange, le plus singulier. Il se dresse dans le paysage du jazz comme un mégalithe énigmatique. L'homme et la musique sont ici clos sur eux-mêmes. Il faut, pour pénétrer cet univers si particulier, avoir la sensibilité de l'artiste et la rigueur de l'analyste. C'est ce qu'a réussi Laurent de Wilde.
Seul un musicien doublé d'un écrivain pouvait, de la façon la plus vivante, nous décrire un univers de psychopathe protégé, tout autant qu'analyser tel thème, tel solo, telle conclusion paradoxale. En connaisseur du terrain, il nous fait visiter les lieux, dévoile des passages secrets et nous remet la clef, une fois qu'on est entré.

Genres: Music, Biography, Jazz

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Hex75 · Rating 5 out of 5]

non esattamente un saggio tecnico (non aspettatevi discografie dettagliate o cronologie accurate delle sessioni in studio), quanto piuttosto un tentativo di entrare nell'animo e nella mente di questo grande jazzista, con pudore e rispetto ma anche con una passione incredibile. il vero theolonious monk viene svelato pagina dopo pagina, permettendo di entrare più affondo nell'opera geniale di uno dei più grandi musicisti jazz di sempre. godibile anche per chi di monk non ha mai sentito nulla, e per essere la biografia di un musicista è una caratteristica non da poco...

[Donnelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not too bad ... Intimate portrait of Monk ...

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A curious book, not so much a biography as an anecdotal set of reflections on Monk's life. At times, Wilde is tremendously insightful, as, say, when he argues that Monk's great pianistic innovation was to treat the instrument somewhere in between percussion and melody, not unlike a vibraphone. On the other hand, too often, the book devolves into oddly metaphorical observations that say very little and seem much too forced in trying to philosophize about an artist who's genius speaks for itself.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book when I was at the height of my late teenager jazz infatuation and remember it being profound. It definitely had it moments, but I found it a bit tedious this time around. Part of this has to do with how much jazz writing consists of long discussions of who played in whose bands during which sessions. I assume this is what people are talking about when they're complaining about the "begats" parts of the Bible. There are also some other weird writerly choices here. It's ostensibly a biography, but the author doesn't bother to fill in key details, like Monk's long-running struggles with both mental illness and drug abuse, until the last chapter, despite talking about the practical impacts they had on his life. (There are multiple references to how Monk lost his cabaret license several times, which kept him from playing in NYC, but you don't learn until the end this had to do with drug charges.)

De Wilde knows music, and the writing is evocative in ways that is sometimes really insightful and a bit technical:

Monk plays the piano "'in the old style'...This meant playing the 'pump' with the left hand in the pure stride tradition (a bass note alternating every other beat with a chord) , for maximum swing. But the advantage of this technique, if you have an open enough mind, is that the right hand is free to do whatever it wants. Monk plunged into this opening and built up and over his left hand, creating colors, rhythms, and figures with a right hand as free as the breeze......It wasn't mere flourish. On the contrary it was magical and that combination released unsuspected dynamic powers. But it's all hell to control!"

Other times all the exclamation points and flourishes make him sound like he's writing a beret-sporting, jazzman character in a Saturday Night Live Skit:

"This is Monk language in the superlative voice! Oyez, Oyez! Oh yeah! The idea of multiplying Monk by ten is that of a true jazz warrior, a megalomaniac. As if there weren't enough problem already!"

So in the end there's definitely some good stuff to be mined here, but more slog than you'd expect in a 200 page book. Those albums he's enthusing about are real good, too.

[Erik Mendez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a long essay about Monk’s life with a lot of details withheld until the end. It’s clear the author is a musician and that he’s very invested in Monk’s history and musical vocabulary, but he does not seem to be the best author. Still, definitely learned a lot about another early figure in the bebop movement.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm doubtful that this is the best book on Monk out there, but it was a pretty decent and quick way for me to start to dig in a little more deeply into his life. De Wilde did insert some really weird personal preferences at odd times, which kind of annoyed me, but I do think he handled Monk pretty sensitively here.

[Eden Wilson-Roseveare · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty enjoyable to read and developed my understanding and appreciation for one of the greatest musicians to ever live. I specifically enjoyed the history included, but there was occasionally some long winded metaphors about music that could have been more succinct. That's my preference more than an actual criticism. 3.5 stars

[Brenda Cregor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The facts about this genius’s life were compelling and heartbreaking....but, since I am not a musician or a jazz aficionado, much of the book was Greek to me.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is kind of an odd book. I enjoyed some of the descriptive writing, which at times came off as almost poetic, but there's the overarching tone of a "superfan" that gets in the way. Laurent De Wilde uses a lot of exclamation points and is often explaining how Monk was always a genius and never made a bad decision. None of the book was very objective. That being said, I still enjoyed it.

[Cobertizo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Coltrane se desengancha de la heroína en plan cold turkey (de un día para otro) y se lanza de lleno a la música de Monk. De arriba abajo, de izquierda a derecha, del sótano al desván. Frenéticamente. Hace limpieza a fondo. Lo rasga, lo hace trizas, lo reconstruye, después lo clava a la pared (...) Baja a la sala de máquinas para ver cómo funcionan esas composiciones. Desmonta el motor, pieza por pieza, y lo vuelve a montar, con las manos sucias de grasa. Coltrane baja a la mina. El casco, el pico y al tajo. Todos los días durante seis meses. Viaje al centro de la tierra: cada día un poco más lejos, regresa del gran pozo con tesoros insospechados"

[Solor · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best Musician Bio i have ever read.

[Lucas Bordas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Désolé mais la misogynie et le racisme ça m'intéresse pas. Ça m'a gâché la découverte d'un génie du jazz. Choqué-déçu.