Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Genius



Getting back to Thelonious Monk and the current book I am reading, The subject of humor in his music was introduced.
Monks music has always made me chuckle. I never understood why , but with just a couple of sentences the author brought me closer.

"His chords often elicited chuckles from the audience,but Monk didn't mind.He later remarked
" Anything that's very good will make

you laugh in admiration ,so it must be humor to make you laugh---or maybe it makes you laugh in surprise because it knocks you out." Humorous, but no less serious" .

This humor is evident in the video above. The tune is the standard Tea for Two. It certainly"knocks me out"
It is crazy when compared to a standard version and although I can barely figure out what he is doing, the harmonics and rhythmic aspects
of it make me laugh! Maybe I should not try to understand it but Just enjoy his Genius

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