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Thelonious Monk
8 quotes
“I don't know where it's going. Maybe it's going to hell. You can't make anything go anywhere. It just happens.”
Thelonious Monk (1917–1982) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: When questioned as to the future of jazz, as quoted in DownBeat (October 30, 1958), p.16 (later requoted in Jet).
“: You liked the arrangement? Monk: Did you make the arrangement? It was crazy. Feather: No. Monk: It was a bunch of musicians who were together, playing an arrangement. It sounded so good, it made me like the song better! Solos ... the trombone sounded good ... that was a good lead trumpet player too ... I don't know how to rate it, but I'd say it was top-notch.”
Thelonious Monk (1917–1982) first seen 1966 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reviewing 's arrangement of Monk's "Straight, No Chaser"—featuring trombonist and trumpeter John Audino—from Here and Now! (Bold, Swinging Big Band Ideas), for DownBeat's "Blindfold Test" (c. 1966); reproduced in The En…
“Which is the way to the toilet?”
Thelonious Monk (1917–1982) first seen 1966 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reviewing "Easy Listening Blues" from 's , for DownBeat's "Blindfold Test" (c. 1966); reproduced in The Encyclopedia of Jazz in the Sixties (1966) by Leonard Feather, p. 30
“It reminded me of , and that's got to be good. Rhythm section has the right groove, too. Drummer made me think of . Hey, play that again. (Later.) Yeah! He sounds like a piano player! (Hums theme.) You can keep changing keys all the time doing that. Sounds like something that was studied and figured out. And he can play it; you know what's happening with this one. Yeah, he was on a Bobby Timmons kick. He knows what's happening.”
Thelonious Monk (1917–1982) first seen 1966 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reviewing "Carole's Garden" from 's Carnival, for DownBeat's "Blindfold Test" (c. 1966); reproduced in The Encyclopedia of Jazz in the Sixties (1966) by Leonard Feather, p. 30
“Interviewer: What other interests do you have? Monk: Life in general. Interviewer: What do you do about it? Monk: Keep breathing. Interviewer: What do you think the purpose of life is? Monk: To die.”
Thelonious Monk (1917–1982) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in DownBeat magazine (October 28, 1971)
“All musicians are subconsciously mathematicians.”
Thelonious Monk (1917–1982) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in DownBeat magazine (28 October 1971)
“Monk enters the studio and starts playing, the rest of the musicians join him. After few minutes of play the technician from his room shouts and stops the band.] Monk: Why did we stop? Technician: I thought you were rehearsing. Monk: Aren't we always?”
Thelonious Monk (1917–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The piano ain't got no wrong notes.”
Thelonious Monk (1917–1982) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed by WKCR jazz host Phil Schaap, after a guest commented on how Monk played a lot of "wrong" notes. (March 1976)