The Complete "Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser" Available For Viewing!

Don't know what to do with yourself on a lazy and humid Sunday afternoon? Want to watch a film but don't want to leave the comfort of your home? 

Well, look what I found for you on YouTube! It's the full 90 minute documentary Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser!

" 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.

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Music Review: ASA Trio Plays the Music of Thelonious Monk

Writing music reviews is always fun. Not just for the music, which I'll get to shortly, but also for the press releases that come with the album. They usually mean well, but sometimes the copy can appear to be a bit pretentious. That unintentional aspect of it can be cringe-worthy, but I'd be lying if I said that some of it didn't make me chuckle.

Cue the ASA Trio from Iceland. They are guitarist Andres Thor, organist Agnar Magnusson and drummer Scott McLemore. I'm always excited to discover new music, and this is no exception.

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Ellis Marsalis "An Open Letter to Thelonious" - 1st Traditional Jazz Album Released in iTunes "LP" Format

(New York, NY) – Nu Jazz Entertainment, a long time producer of high quality audio and video content in the genre of jazz, announces the January 2011 release of the critically acclaimed album, "An Open Letter to Thelonious" by Ellis Marsalis, a 2011 NEA Jazz Master inductee. This is the first traditional Jazz release in the new iTunes “LP” format with bonus audio, bonus high-definition videos, bonus photos, bonus liner notes and  bonus literary content.

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