Easter & the Monk

I hope everybody had a great Easter. Let me just say the Fry house was hopping like the Easter Bunny; the kids had a blast.

I finally watched Straight No Chaser -- hey, it's only been out for 20 years -- and it gave me a bit of a jones for the old gigging life. It also made me feel really bad for the man who gave us such great jazz performances and at least two standards (Blue Monk and Round Midnight) that he was haunted by a mental illness which would periodically isolate him from those around him, including his son who was terrified by these bouts with his father's "inner demons".



So the upside of being Thelonius Monk was creative genius, the downside was severe derangement. But the overall nature of the movie is upbeat because it features so many concert performances and studio footage in proportion to the talkin'. Loved to watched the man rotating during breaks, groovily delighting in his own creation.