Review of Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (1988) by Ian R — 28 Mar 2010

I don't think there's a musician who better captured the sounds of his own mind, and I don't think there's one who could do so more joyfully. Monk seemed impossible to penetrate and this only adds a mysterious quality to his music, as if it is written in a personal code, but one that he offers you the tools to decipher with the arrangement of his notes.

This is filled with great rare footage of him in performance and the studio - it was my first encounter with him, in fact, and lead me to a love of his work that I doubt will ever fade.