Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter
jazz patron
Jazz patron born into the Rothschild family, not a musician, who supported many bebop players; Barry calls her the benefactress who helped them all, became friends with Monk through her, and lived with Monk in her house in Weehawken, New Jersey, where he went on living for decades.
- mentions
- 9
- recordings
- 5
- Barry speaking
- 3
What Barry says
Near the end of the oral history Barry asks to mention a lady to whom Monk, himself, Sonny Clark, Art Blakey and many others were grateful: Pannonica Koenigswarter, born a Rothschild, a jazz lover and benefactress who lifted them out of poverty and hunger.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶331Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶333
Barry says he and Monk became good friends through the Baroness. He would go with her to Monk’s house, they would pick him up, and the three of them would go out somewhere together.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶347Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶369Ted Panken, For Barry Harris’ 82nd Birthday ¶20
Asked whether he met her in New York, Barry agrees, but says he does not like to talk about her much and tries to change the subject.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶358Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶359Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶361
Pressed, he says she was good to musicians and probably helped them all in some way. One of her biggest helps, he thinks, was that her Bentley or Rolls-Royce parked outside a jazz club made people come in to see who was there.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶363Ted Panken, For Barry Harris’ 82nd Birthday ¶25
In Harlem, he says, people protected her car: she never locked the trunk or glove compartment and nobody touched it. The only time it was damaged was in midtown, when someone slashed its top while she was parked near his Jazz Cultural Theatre.
Barry agrees that she went to all the scenes, calling her a true jazz lover and something valuable that the musicians had on their side.
He lived with Monk for ten years in her Weehawken home, where they once traded choruses of “My Ideal” over and over. He regrets it was never recorded: the Baroness usually had the tape recorder running, but not that time. The pianist Chris Anderson stayed at her house too.
The last train to Monk: an interview21:40Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶27Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶296
In his own words
Her name was Pannonica Koenigswarter nee Rothschild, Rothschild. She was the benefactress who helped us all get out of being poor and starving
Through the Baroness we became good friends. I went with her by his house and stuff, and we’d pick him up and we’d all three be going some place.
we could say that she was beautiful towards musicians. All the musicians knew it, too. And she probably helped us all in some kind of way.
Oh, she was a jazz lover. That’s no stuff. She was one of our assets. She was a good one for us.
it’s funny too because generally the Baroness would have the tape recorder on, you know, but she didn’t get any of this, us playing, my ideal.
Every mention
9 moments in the recordings, 3 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
The last train to Monk: an interview
- 21:40
The Baroness usually had the tape recorder on, but missed his long “My Ideal” exchange with Monk.
Believe: a talk to musicians
The Spirit of Bebop
- 35:43
Speaker unclear
Nica looked out for all jazz musicians as their benefactor; a Rothschild who left her diplomat husband.
- 36:18
Someone else
She loved the pianists after Bud Powell, Barry among them, and came to every opening.
- 36:51
Someone else
The same speaker, knowing her only years later, found her warm, bright and gracious.
- 32:21
Someone else
A narrator says Monk spent his last years at the Baroness’s Weehawken house, cut off from outside.
Barry Harris Funeral
- 45:28
Someone else
A funeral speaker recalls Monk’s album Criss-Cross, which he describes as two pianos, like those in Nica’s house.
The Great Pianist Barry Harris’ Funeral At Abyssinian Baptist Church In Harlem
- 31:53
Someone else
The same funeral remark about Criss-Cross and Nica’s pianos, in another recording of the service.
In the interviews and notes
Near the end of the oral history Barry names Pannonica Koenigswarter, born a Rothschild, as the jazz-loving benefactress to whom he, Monk, Sonny Clark, Art Blakey and many others were grateful for lifting them out of poverty.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶331Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶333
Explaining how long he has known Chris Anderson, Barry mentions that Anderson even stayed over at the Baroness’s.
Barry credits the Baroness with his friendship with Monk: the relationship was social more than musical, and grew from going with her to collect Monk and the three of them going out.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶347Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶349Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶369
Reluctant to talk about her, Barry allows that she was good to musicians, that her Bentley or Rolls-Royce outside a club drew customers in, and that she was a real jazz lover and an asset to them.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶361Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶363Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶367
Barry recalls that her car, left unlocked, was never touched in Harlem, outside places like Wells, Smalls Paradise and Minton’s; it was vandalised only once, in midtown, near his Jazz Cultural Theatre.
Panken writes that Barry met the Baroness soon after reaching New York, and that as a longtime friend of Monk and Coleman Hawkins she helped bring him close to both.
Panken notes that Barry still lives in her house by the Hudson, with a view of the Manhattan skyline, and that he talks about her with respect and few words.
Barry tells Schermer he lived with Monk for ten years at her home in Weehawken, where the two once played “My Ideal” back and forth, chorus after chorus.
JazzTimes reports that from the mid-1970s until Monk died in 1982 both pianists lived in the Weehawken house owned by the ‘Jazz Baroness’, and that Barry still lives there.
unknown (JazzTimes; the byline is missing on the current site), Barry Harris: Teacher Man ¶9
Milkowski describes Barry’s Weehawken home as formerly hers, nicknamed ‘Catville’ by Monk for its many cats, with a view of midtown Manhattan that appears on the cover of Barry’s trio album First Time Ever.
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.
- 14.3Learn from the masters by ear; study the small things5
- 15.4The lineage5
- 11.4Play from the body and the arm, not the fingers4
- 1.4Triplets and thinking in six2
- 11.1Two hands together2
- 11.2Keep the left hand low and make it interesting2
- 12.2Know the song; learn many songs; find your key2
- 2.2The two whole-tone scales (‘man and woman’)2