Thelonious Monk - Straight No Chaser (1988)
Malpaso Productions

Description

Filmmaker Bruce Ricker couldn't believe his luck. Michael and Christian Blackwood's extensive 1968 footage of the groundbreaking modern jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, including the only footage of the very private Monk off stage, was in excellent condition. The reels were, in Ricker's words, "just sitting there like the Dead Sea Scrolls of jazz." Ricker, as co-producer, joins director and fellow producer Charlotte Zwerin (Gimme Shelter), executive producer Clint Eastwood and others to bring these scrolls to astonishing life. Their Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser combines the Blackwood's rare footage of Monk in studio on tour and behind the scenes with new interviews, archival photos and more to create a landmark aural and visual treat.

Tunes in order of appearance: Evidence; Rhythm-a-ning; On the Bean; Round Midnight; Well, You Needn't; Bright Mississippi; Blue Monk; Trinkle, Tinkle; Rhythm-a-ning; Ugly Beauty; Ask Me Now; Just a Gigolo; Crepuscule with Nellie; I Should Care; We See; Osaka T.; Evidence; Epistrophy, Don't Blame Me; Ruby, My Dear; I Mean You; Lulu's Back in Town; Off Minor; Pannonica; Boo Boo's Birthday; Misterioso; Monk's Mood; Sweetheart of All My Dreams; Round Midnight.

Tags

Jazz, Bebop

Collected reviews and ratings

9.0 Amazon user reviews

Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser provides an intelligent portrait of this often reclusive, sometimes difficult artist, including telling glimpses of his volatility.
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9.0 Chicago Reader | Jonathan Rosenbaum

Monk is heard playing close to two dozen tunes, most of them his own compositions, with his talented quartet and octet in concerts, at rehearsals, and at one recording session, and much of this is remarkable. His sizzling solo on "Evidence," which opens the film, is alone worth the price of admission.
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8.8 Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

I had heard the music before. What the film gave me was an opportunity to see Thelonious Monk creating some of it, and, just as importantly, an opportunity to see how those who knew him loved him.
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8.3 Entertainment Weekly | Gary Giddins

Best of all, this documentary shows the magical fingers hammering out harsh and powerful melodies, inventing a new music with unfailing intelligence and matchless wit.
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8.0 New York Times | Stephen Holden

The Monk music that courses through the film is extraordinary in its range of feeling. [...] The film reminds us again and again that Monk was as important a jazz composer as he was a pianist.
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8.0 allmovie | Craig Butler

Thelonius Monk: Straight, No Chaser is an absolute treasure trove for jazz aficionados in general and Thelonius Monk devotees in particular.
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6.0 DVD Journal | Alexandra DuPont

The music's great. The history's neglected. The carnage is riveting.
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