During the mid 1980s, there was a resurgence of jazz spearheaded by the efforts of Wynton Marsalis that created the “Young Lions” movement. In turn, many filmmakers began producing motion pictures and documentaries focusing on jazz and its musicians. Charlotte Zwerin’s biopic documentary, Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser released in 1988 (produced by Clint Eastwood), is a prime example of one of these aforementioned films. Using a variety of rhetorical techniques, Zwerin’s film re-evaluates the style and musical significance of Monk to jazz musicians and critics alike.
The main rhetorical device present in Zwerin’s film is the extensive use of stock footage of Monk from 1967-1968. Filmed by Christian Blackwood and unreleased publicly for 20 years, these performances, rehearsal, “meandering of Monk”, etc. capture Thelonious Monk during the apex of his creativity (he recorded seven separate albums worth of material during the two years in which the footage was shot). These performances don’t just showcase Monk’s innovative approach to the piano; they also present his ability to compose masterpieces (“Straight, No Chaser,” “Crepuscule with Nellie,” “I Mean You,” etc.) as well as re-interpret the American standard songbook (“Don’t Blame Me,” “Ask Me Now,” “I Should Care”, etc.). Many of Monk’s pieces have become staples at jam sessions performed in jazz clubs across the country (try walking into a jam session not knowing “Round Midnight”). Ultimately, the music presented in the footage paints an eccentric genius whom eventually was acknowledged by a large part of the jazz community as one of the greatest innovators in his field.
The film lends itself a sense of credibility and emotional appeal through the commentary present in-between the tour footage from 1967-1968. Zwerin conducted more recent interviews with Monk’s son Thelonious Monk Jr., his European road manager Bob Jones, Monk’s longtime manager Harry Colomby and his friend the Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter. Throughout these interviews we learn that Monk was still an enigma to his closest friends. Several of the interviewees mention repeatedly how Monk would “close-up” and was hospitalized many times for mental illness. Mysteriously enough, no one knows the exact illness that Monk suffered from. Thelonious Monk Jr. describes how frightening it was to “look your father in the eyes and realize that he doesn’t quite know who you are” but recounts his mother reminding him it’s the family’s responsibility for Monk, despite his mental illness. The interview with Monk’s longtime manager Harry Colomby describes the “Black” community’s expressions of pride, independence and strength that were embodied in the music of Thelonious Monk and others during the bebop era of the 1940s. Colomby also describes the way in which Monk calmly conducted himself during the filming of “The Sound of Jazz,” a live television broadcast on CBS in 1957 featuring performances by Monk, Billie Holiday and others. These interviews (along with the interviews of Bob Jones) paint a picture of Monk as a credible individual who had an enormous impact on the jazz scene during his lifetime and continues to have an impact to this day.
An appeal to ethos is also apparent in the numerous photographs, album and magazine covers featured and discussed in Zwerin’s film. As early as 1934 Monk was hired by the already famous “father” of the tenor saxophone Coleman Hawkins. Several pictures of the two of them are present in the beginning of the film accompanied by the earliest recording by Hawkins featuring Monk in the background. In addition, there are numerous photographs of Monk with others pioneers of the bebop movement such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, as well as photographs of later innovators (John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, etc.). The collage of Monk’s album covers infuse within the audience a sense of credibility through the shear amount of output of material by Monk during his lifetime (and these aren’t even all of his albums). And then there’s the painting of Monk on the cover of Time Magazine in December, 1964. The fact that Monk is the fourth of only four jazz musicians (at the time of the filming of this documentary) to be on the cover of Time Magazine since the magazine’s first publication in 1923 is impressive enough to consider him an important figure in the development of jazz. Since then, the only other jazz icon present on the cover is Wynton Marsalis, who appeared on the cover in 1990 (two years after the release of this film).
In conclusion the efforts of Charlotte Zwerin, Christian Blackwood and Clint Eastwood, Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser effectively portrays the importance and influence that Thelonious Monk has had upon the history of jazz in the past and present. Even to this day many critics state that his music still seems to be fresh, invigorating; full of knowledge and wit. Who knows how long it will be before stylistic devices present in his music will cease to have an impact upon the language of jazz, or how the present language would be different if we didn’t have Thelonious Monk.
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