Monk Rhythm-a-ning

Rhythm-a-ning Monk Thelonious 1961

Another clip from a film recorded in the sixties and found in the archives of the Dutch broadcasting company. What else is buried in there and might show up at some time. A collector in Holland taped this from a jazz show of recordings done mainly in the late fifties or early sixties. The Thelonnious Monk quartet plays Rhythm-a-ning in 1961 with Charlie Rouse on tenor, John Ore on bass, and Frankie Dunlop on drums.
Thelonious Sphere Monk (1917 -- 1982) was a jazz pianist and composer.
He is known for his unique improvisational style and many contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including his classic works "'Round Midnight" and "Blue Monk". Monk is often regarded as a founder of bebop although his playing style evolved away from the form. His compositions and improvisations often highlight rhythmic and spatial relationships rather than melody.Monk's manner was idiosyncratic. Visually, he was renowned for his distinctively "hip" sartorial style in suits, hats and sunglasses, and he developed an unusual, highly syncopated and percussive manner of playing piano. He was also noted for the fact that at times he would stop playing, stand up from the keyboard and dance in a counterclockwise fashion, while the other musicians in the combo played.
It is said that he would rarely speak to anyone other than his beloved wife Nellie, and certainly in later years it was reported that he would go through an entire tour without speaking to the other members of his group.
There has been speculation that some of Monk's quirky behaviour was due to mental illness.
As his health declined, his last years were spent as a guest in the New Jersey home of his long-standing patron, Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter, who had also nursed Charlie Parker during his final illness. He died of a stroke on February 17, 1982