Thelonious Monk in Paris, 1969

On December 15, 1969, pianist Thelonious Monk was in Paris on tour with Charlie Rouse (ts) Nate Hygelund (b) and Austin “Paris" Wright (d), with Philly Joe Jones (d) playing on Nutty and Blue Monk. Hygelund was still a student at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. And Wright was only 17. Monk had asked his father, bassist Herman Wright, if he could take his son along on the road.

Nine months ago, the complete broadcast of the quartet on stage was uploaded to YouTube. Although Rouse's sound seems to have been muffled over a copyright issue only in Part 1, we at least can see the group in action and hear plenty of Monk:

Here's Part 1...



Here's Part 2...



In other Monk matters, James Wilkinson last week alerted me to a new French documentary coming soon called Rewind & Play, directed by Alain Gomis. The documentary seems to look at how disrespectfully Monk was treated by a French interviewer while in Paris in December 1969.

Here are a couple of clips from the film on YouTube:

Clip #1...



Clip #2...