Dylan Meets Monk -- Chronicles

David Gitin · October-6th-2004, 09:25 AM

In CHRONICLES by Bob Dylan, he recounts meeting Monk, who told him "we all play folk music."

Cem · October-6th-2004, 09:35 AM

Now that would've been a lovely & surreal experience, chatting with those two or just seeing them shoot the breeze! Didn't others, including Mingus, also refer to jazz as folk music?

Gentle Giant · October-6th-2004, 09:39 AM

I can't wait to read it, although I'm sure I'll be disappointed that he doesn't reveal things I want to know more about. I think it's cool that the two albums he does devote significant pages to are New Morning and Oh Mercy. Not obvious choices, but excellent works nonetheless.

crawjo · October-6th-2004, 12:14 PM

New Morning is one of my favorite Dylan albums. Definitely underrated.

BlueMiles · April-12th-2007, 10:45 AM

I was thinking there must be a thread on this somewhere, but I did not find one.

I've been a big fan of Dylan for decades...he's truly an American icon.

The book is much more straightfoward than I expected. Based on many of his songs and his much earlier book "Trarantula," you'd think it would be some weird stream-of-consciousness; but not so.

One thing I found curious was the references to jazz music. Bobby D. seems to know and love jazz. It's not just the obvious references, like Miles and Monk, but dropping names like Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry and Billy Higgins.

Gentle Giant · April-12th-2007, 12:26 PM

Been meaning to get it since it came out, somehow it hasn't made its way into my cart yet. But it will.

groover · April-12th-2007, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueMiles

One thing I found curious was the references to jazz music. Bobby D. seems to know and love jazz. It's not just the obvious references, like Miles and Monk, but dropping names like Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry and Billy Higgins.

Fascinating, I'll have to check that out, especially considering how many people I know who revere Dylan but have little appreciation for jazz.

Jazzzoline · April-12th-2007, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueMiles

I was thinking there must be a thread on this somewhere, but I did not find one.

It's been merged with another thread.(j/k)
Actually I'm surprised this thread is still in this part of the board. Won't last long I guess.

I'm a big fan of Dylan too, although, living in a french speaking place, I've not been exposed to other Dylan's material beside his music. Then when i watched the DVD "no direction home", he somewhat surprised me. Didn't know he looked so ... "little boy", or maybe it's the way he hesitates at some words when he speaks. Kinda charming.

As strange as it may sound, I'd never seen any of his concert, until before xmas. He was in Montréal.

I didn't like his show. Couldn't understand a single word of his song and couldn't even recognize the music. Not telling he was kinda 1h30 late. I already knew it though, since i'd read many reviews of his shows in the past. I just had to see one Dylan show in my life. It's done, next.

I've read Chronicles. Found it funny to read about his pathcross with Daniel Lanois. I like Lanois work. I didn't think he could loose patience and it seems Dylan pushed him that way.

Brian Olewnick · April-12th-2007, 02:28 PM

From Alex Ross' blog, August '06:

Bob and Cecil (and Sir Edward)

Looking over Bob Dylan's Chronicles again, I'm nonplussed by the story of Dylan singing "The Water Is Wide" one night in the Village with ... Cecil Taylor at the piano. I don't suppose there's any tape of this? Better that there isn't, so the imagination can run free. "Cecil could play regular piano if he wanted to," Dylan laconically observes (p. 74).... Herb Levy writes in to point out that Tom Wilson, Dylan's producer in 1964 and 1965, also produced Taylor's debut album, Jazz Advance (not to mention Sun Ra, Frank Zappa, and the Velvet Underground). Levy provides a link to a Nat Hentoff piece on Chronicles, which highlights another excellent jazz moment in the book — Dylan meets Thelonious Monk and identifies himself as a folksinger, to which Monk repies, "We all play folk music." Which reminds me of what Edward Elgar said when the likes of Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams started insisting that English composers should use native folk tunes: "I am folk music."

Rachel G · April-12th-2007, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzzoline

It's been merged with another thread.(j/k)

Yep.

(All threads about "other" musicians, news about them, etc., go in OTHER MUSIC.)

steve(thelil) · April-13th-2007, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Olewnick

From Alex Ross' blog, August '06:

Bob and Cecil (and Sir Edward)

Looking over Bob Dylan's Chronicles again, I'm nonplussed by the story of Dylan singing "The Water Is Wide" one night in the Village with ... Cecil Taylor at the piano. I don't suppose there's any tape of this? Better that there isn't, so the imagination can run free. "Cecil could play regular piano if he wanted to," Dylan laconically observes (p. 74).... Herb Levy writes in to point out that Tom Wilson, Dylan's producer in 1964 and 1965, also produced Taylor's debut album, Jazz Advance (not to mention Sun Ra, Frank Zappa, and the Velvet Underground). Levy provides a link to a Nat Hentoff piece on Chronicles, which highlights another excellent jazz moment in the book — Dylan meets Thelonious Monk and identifies himself as a folksinger, to which Monk repies, "We all play folk music." Which reminds me of what Edward Elgar said when the likes of Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams started insisting that English composers should use native folk tunes: "I am folk music."

I also enjoyed picturing Dylan hanging out with (then unknown) Tiny Tim in the kitchen of a folk club they both played at early in Bob's career, according to Chronicles.

BlueMiles · April-13th-2007, 11:38 AM

Yeah, there are some pretty odd connections. Tiny Tim, who always struck me as an utter joke, is one of them. Maybe there's a duet somewhere between Bobby D. and Tiny Tim!

In addition, Dylan goes on at some length about his admiration for wrestler Gorgeous George.

Bill Barton · April-25th-2007, 05:09 PM

If you haven't checked out the most recent edition of Coda magazine (Issue 332, March/April 2007) it's well worth it. How about this headline? "Bob Dylan, Jazz Composer?" There's a great vintage photo of Bob on the cover reading "U.S. News & World Retort" with the headline "WAR DECLARED - How to Avoid the Draft." And a very interesting article by Kurt Gottschalk about jazz musicians interpreting Dylan tunes.