Thelonious Monk (1917 – 1982)
Jazz pianist and composer.
Page 1 of 1
Monk enters the studio and starts playing, the rest of the musicians join him. After few minutes of play the technician from his room shouts and stops the band.]
Monk: "Why did we stop?"
Technician: "I thought you were rehearsing."
Monk: "Aren't we always?"
Working with Monk is like falling down a dark elevator shaft.
Working with Monk brought me close to a musical architect of the highest order. I felt I learned from him in every way — through the senses, theoretically, technically. I would talk to Monk about musical problems, and he would sit at the piano and show me the answers just by playing them. I could watch him play and find out the things I wanted to know. Also, I could see a lot of things that I didn't know about at all.
All musicians are subconsciously mathematicians.
I don't know where it's going. Maybe it's going to hell. You can't make anything go anywhere. It just happens.
Interviewer: What other interests do you have?
Monk: Life in general.
Interviewer: What do you do about it?
Monk: Keep breathing.
...
Interviewer: What do you think the purpose of life is?
Monk: To die.
Page 1 of 1