Embedded Files
A note can be as small as a pin
or as big as the world
(for another Monk)
When he toured four months
in 1960 with Monk mumbling
sometimes advice dark-whim-
wise & as clunky as he was
inimitable, Steve Lacy noted
whatever he said he thought
he heard was good for, as, eighth
on the list "always know....
( Monk )" with an arrow arced
over to flip his name so M
made W would read back:
know. And when Johnny
Griffin deciphering an un-
readable score hand-
writ asked Monk once
"what note's this?") Thel-
onious (n.
b. with
two
o's) didn't, after
squinting
at the page,
know either, said, barely
a consonant in his mouth,
"play whatever you hear",
which he (Griffin) took
on hearsay
& blew it might have been
Epistrophy into god
knows what shape with
Monk's mute foot-stamp
stamping syncopes rampant
in the gaps. Say
what you like, but no-
one had to know
what epis-
trophy at
that
moment meant.
*
Note:
My memory may be faulty and the story about Johnny Griffin may actually concern Charlie Rouse – the footage is contained in a documentary on Monk and I forget which. Griffin gets it because I hear French spoken every day and griffe = claw in translation. Which of course is no good reason but then what do I know ?.
[Tony Baker has lived in France for nearly three decades, working primarily as a musician. He has published books with Reality Street, West House, Pig Press and, more recently, work in an assemblage made by Peter Riley for Shearsman.]
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