Thanks To Monk...

I love jazz. There, I've said it. It's taken a long time, but now I know it's the real thing. One of the turning points for me came when I was stuck for five hours at Miami airport on the way back from a writing job in the Canary Islands. The bookshop was filled with books I preferred not to read... but I was drawn to the one pictured above, because I'd recently finished reading Composing Himself, the Jack Bruce biography, and Bruce had mentioned the inspirational qualities of Thelonious Monk.

Robin Kelley's book is one of the best I've ever read. And this brilliant telling of Monk's all-too-human story led me to the man's music, which now never ceases to lift my spirits. I won't attempt to convey the tragedies and triumphs of Monk's personal, musical and mental life... go get the book and listen to the music. I just wanted to express gratitude to Thelonious and his genius. I was late getting there, but thanks to Jack Bruce, Robin Kelley and Miami airport, I made it in the end...