This is an incredible snapshot of the bebop forefather in his element: from the stairwells of clubs in the East Village to getting raunchy in some sterile, white-walled studio. Charlotte Zwerin’s pacing predates the song-story-song format that is fairly commonplace by today’s documentary standards, boasting rich footage of Monk’s splay-fingered wallop on some poor grand pianos. While Zwerin leans heavily on the offbeat quirks, a slant corrected by Robin D.G. Kelley’s excellent biography on the pianist, this is a must for even cursory fans.

This is an incredible snapshot of the bebop forefather in his element: from the stairwells of clubs in the East Village to getting raunchy in some sterile, white-walled studio. Charlotte Zwerin’s pacing predates the song-story-song format that is fairly commonplace by today’s documentary standards, boasting rich footage of Monk’s splay-fingered wallop on some poor grand pianos. While Zwerin leans heavily on the offbeat quirks, a slant corrected by Robin D.G. Kelley’s excellent biography on the pianist, this is a must for even cursory fans.

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