Thelonious Monk
piano, composer
Pianist and composer whom Barry befriended in New York through the Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter, and who spent his last ten or so years living in her Weehawken house with Barry.
- mentions
- 40
- recordings
- 17
- Barry speaking
- 35
What Barry says
Barry may first have met Monk at the Five Spot, where Monk paced the room all night in hat and coat. The friendship grew through the Baroness, riding around with her and Monk, and was social more than musical. Monk never wasted words, and Barry agrees he never wasted notes either: that was like his music.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶343Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶347Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶349Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶355Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶356Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶357Ted Panken, For Barry Harris’ 82nd Birthday ¶20
In his last years Monk stayed in bed at the Weehawken house for about ten years and seldom touched the piano outside his room. Barry links this to the falling calibre of the music as peers such as Prez and Coleman Hawkins died, and in another telling to something that went wrong at a concert.
The last train to Monk: an interview22:1923:13Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶316Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶318Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶371
One clear day Monk sat Barry at the piano and they traded choruses on “My Ideal” over and over, 25, 50 or 100 each depending on the telling. Nobody recorded it, which Barry always regrets; he calls it the closest he came to Monk’s way of practising.
The last train to Monk: an interview21:40Interview: Bird, Hawkins, Monk and New York28:37Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶127Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶375Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶27Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶318
Monk did not practise practising; he practised playing, taking one tune in tempo by himself for up to 90 minutes, so he was always ready for a gig. Barry has tapes of it and urges jazz musicians, who get few gigs, to practise playing in the same way.
Interview: Bird, Hawkins, Monk and New York27:2728:0328:37Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶128Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶460
People who say Monk lacked technique are wrong. Real technique is knowing how to use space, and Monk was its master; he could fling a hand to the top of the keyboard and hit the note, played whole-tone scales down like no one before, and showed Barry runs Barry cannot play.
Interview: Bird, Hawkins, Monk and New York29:0929:41Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶416Ted Panken, For Barry Harris’ 82nd Birthday ¶20
Barry calls Monk the most prolific composer of the century, full of beautiful ballads. Because Monk wrote tunes on the blues, on rhythm changes and on standards, Barry could play nothing but Monk all night at his first gig after Monk died, and did.
Interview: Bird, Hawkins, Monk and New York25:1226:52The Spirit of Bebop30:59The last train to Monk: an interview21:08Bill Milkowski, Barry Harris: Young-hearted Elder ¶15Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶27
He would not send students to Monk’s playing to learn jazz: it is too individual and unorthodox, and Monk was less a bebop pianist than an individual. What Monk gave everyone is his songs; study his playing after learning everything else. Barry wishes he could write ballads like Monk’s.
The 2016 workshop, part 3: Monk’s tunes, not his style0:007:00The last train to Monk: an interview20:28Andrew Velez, Barry Harris: A Thousand Percent Music Man ¶8
Some of his teaching comes from Monk. Monk called the half-diminished chord a minor chord with the sixth in the bass, as at the start of “’Round Midnight”, and something Monk played showed Barry that the chord on the third can act as a one chord.
Believe: a talk to musicians22:3523:07The C minor seventh in All the Things You Are6:34Jazz theory, part 3: four dominants from one diminished4:04
In his own words
The only person that’s got real technique is a person who knows how to deal with space. Monk was the master at space.
Monk practiced playing. Monk would play 90 minutes in tempo, one tune by himself practicing.
See what he did? He wrote tunes. He wrote tunes on standards. Evidence, all these things are written on things.
Well, he was an odd fellow. He didn’t talk. He didn’t waste any conversation. Monk never wasted words.
Monk was a creature who must have said one day, ‘I’m not going to play like anyone else.’
Every mention
40 moments in the recordings, 35 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Interview: Bird, Hawkins, Monk and New York
- 29:41
Monk was the master of space, never missed a note, and showed Barry runs he cannot play.
- 28:03
Monk practised playing, one tune in tempo by himself for 90 minutes.
- 28:37
The nearest he came to Monk’s practice was trading choruses of “My Ideal” with him.
- 27:27
They each played “My Ideal” about a hundred times; he has tapes of Monk practising.
- 26:52
Monk wrote vehicles on standards, rhythm changes and the blues, so you can play him all night.
- 26:18
First knew Monk from 78s such as “’Round Midnight” and “Off Minor”; played only Monk after he died.
- 25:12
Calls Monk the most prolific composer of the century; every ballad beautiful.
- 25:45
Names “Pannonica”, “Ruby, My Dear” and “’Round Midnight” as works of art.
- 24:40
Interviewer
Ben Sidran notes Barry lived with Monk; Barry says about ten years.
The Spirit of Bebop
- 30:59
At the Angry Squire after Monk died, he played nothing but Monk tunes all night.
- 32:21
Someone else
A commentator describes Monk’s last years at Weehawken, practising and trading choruses with Barry.
- 34:03
Someone else
Monk unexpectedly walked on to play the Carnegie Hall concert of his music Barry was booked for.
The last train to Monk: an interview
- 20:28
Monk was a regular pianist who could stride; they took to his tunes, such as “’Round Midnight” and “Monk’s Mood”.
- 21:08
Monk wrote tunes on standards, such as “Evidence” on “Just You, Just Me”.
- 21:40
They played “My Ideal” for over an hour; the Baroness’s tape recorder missed it.
- 22:19
Monk withdrew as the calibre of musicians fell and Prez and Hawkins died.
- 23:13
Monk stayed in bed about ten years, rarely touching the piano outside his room.
- 23:45
Once took Monk’s hand as he passed the piano and made him strike a key.
- 19:54
A lot of Monk rubbed off on Bud Powell.
The 2016 workshop, part 3: Monk’s tunes, not his style
Believe: a talk to musicians
The C minor seventh in All the Things You Are
- 6:00
Monk never said half-diminished; he called it a minor chord with the sixth in the bass.
Jazz theory, part 3: four dominants from one diminished
- 4:04
Hearing Monk showed him the chord on the third can be a one chord.
Interview: Bud Powell and teaching singers
Jazz theory, part 7: Monk and Stella by Starlight
- 0:00
Used to play with Monk for hours on one song, “My Ideal”, and nobody recorded it.
Small chords, not big ones
- 1:40
Monk, like Tatum and Bud, did not keep the left hand up high.
A Monk theme on Sweet Georgia Brown
- 0:00
Shows singers a figure Monk used to play, in a lesson on “Sweet Georgia Brown”.
NEA Jazz Masters panel
- 1:41
Scorns a TV host who told his band never to play a Monk tune again.
Barry Harris Live In Rennes
Barry Harris Trio - 2003-06-13, Le Franc Pinot, Paris, France
- 19:46
In concert: no jazz performance should happen without someone playing Monk.
Barry Harris Trio - Live at Clasijazz (Full concert)
- 32:54
Plays “Ruby, My Dear” under a picture of Monk; they say Monk wrote it for his first girlfriend.
Charles Davis memorial - Musical selection 2
- 2:00
At a memorial, mentions that he wrote a song for Monk.
Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland
- 22:34
Speaker unclear
Associates “Just You, Just Me” with Lester Young and, somehow, with Monk.
In the interviews and notes
Barry thinks he first met Monk at the Five Spot. Their friendship came through the Baroness, going about town together, and was social before it was musical; he cannot say when he first heard Monk in person.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶343Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶347Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶349
Barry was rehearsing a Carnegie Hall concert of Monk’s music with strings and asked Monk to play it himself. Monk said nothing, which was unusual for him, then walked in at starting time, having got out of bed, and played the whole concert.
Barry learned Monk’s tunes by their melodies, never note for note. Monk showed him parts of “’Round Midnight”, which is why wrong changes on it anger him: Monk voiced it very simply, sometimes with three notes.
Monk’s own “’Round Midnight” has a tempo you could dance to, unlike Miles Davis’s much slower version; separating jazz from dancing was a mistake.
When he was starting out Barry paid little attention to Monk, who sounded hard, though the melodies drew him in. Studying Bud Powell, who showed Monk’s influence, he gradually grew into Monk.
Ted Panken, For Barry Harris’ 82nd Birthday ¶19Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶306
Though admired for playing Monk, Barry says he seldom learned a tune from watching Monk play it, and played his tunes more the way Bud Powell would have.
unknown (JazzTimes; the byline is missing on the current site), Barry Harris: Teacher Man ¶9
Monk set out not to sound like anyone else, in solos and in songs. Bird and others took some of his music into theirs, but Barry sees Monk as an individual more than a bebop man.
Barry liked Monk a lot. Once, hearing Barry play from another room, Monk recognised him and called out; Barry remembers his sense of humour.
Barry says Monk needs to be celebrated. Monk’s blues, ballads, rhythm tunes and lines on standards give a pianist enough material to play all day.
Right after Monk died Barry moved on to the Jazz Cultural Theater. One of the first concerts he gave, in 1982, was dedicated to Monk, and its poster still hangs in a Manhattan restaurant.
Recordings that name them
Barry’s performances and records in the archive that credit or name them.
- Barry Harris Quintet Live at Jazzclub Ostertor, Bremen, Germany - 1976 (audio only)2026, 39 min YouTube
- Barry Harris Trio - 2003-06-13, Le Franc Pinot, Paris, France2023, 2.1 h YouTube
- Monk Allstar Quartet - 1986-08-29, Petrillo Music Shell, Grant Park, Chicago, IL2022, 27 min YouTube
- Barry Harris, Red Rodney, Charles McPherson, Ray Drummond, Ben Riley - 1992-08-29, Riverside ParkNew York City, 1992, 35 min YouTube
- Barry Harris Trio - 2005-07-08, North Sea Jazz Festival, Netherlands2022, 80 min YouTube
- 04/06/1968 - Pepper Adams & Barry Harris2022, 33 min YouTube
- Barry Harris — Interpretations Of Monk CD22021, 52 min YouTube
- Barry Harris Live In Rennes2021, 77 min YouTube
- Let’s Monk2021, 6 min YouTube
- Barry Harris Trio - Boulogne-Billancourt, FranceBoulogne-Billancourt, 1987, 79 min YouTube
- Off Monk2020, 10 min YouTube
- Barry Harris - To Monk With Love2020, 6 min YouTube
- Thelonious Monk - Misterioso - Interpreted By Barry Harris & Tommy Flanagan2020, 3 min YouTube
- Thelonious Monk - Well, You Needn’t - Interpreted By Barry Harris & Tommy Flanagan2020, 3 min YouTube
- Barry Harris Trio - Live at Clasijazz (Full concert)Almería, 2014, 1.7 h YouTube
- Barry Harris Trio - Off Minor (Thelonious Monk)Almería, 2014, 4 min YouTube
- Barry Harris Trio - Live at Dizzy’s, New York, June 2017 Part 2New York City, 2017, 61 min YouTube
- Kenny Dorham & Barry Harris - 1964 - New York - 04 - ‘Round Midnight2016, 8 min YouTube
- Charles Davis memorial - Musical selection 22016, 8 min YouTube
- Barry Harris Spanish TVMadrid, 1988, 47 min YouTube
- Monk’s Mood2014, 6 min YouTube
- Barry Harris Trio - Ruby, my dear (Thelonious Monk)Almería, 2014, 4 min YouTube
- Barry plays MonkThe Hague, 1989–98, 5 min YouTube
- Artists House Master Class Barry Harris - PerformanceNew York City, 2004, 39 min YouTube
- Blue Monk by Barry Harris2012, 4 min YouTube
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.