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Acclaimed Author Robin D.G. Kelley Lectures on "The 'Un-Years': Thelonious Monk in the 1950s" at the Kimmel Center

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On April 9, 2011, at the initiation of All About Jazz writer Vic Schermer, Robin Kelley, author of Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original visited Philadelphia and delivered a lecture on Monk. Kelley's 60 minute talk focused on a turbulent period in Monk's life—the 1950s—when his music was misunderstood, and he also suffered a series of personal setbacks, including an arrest, the revocation of his cabaret card, and near financial ruin, only to create some of his finest music and undergo a resurgence that led to a cover story in Time, memorable concerts at Town Hall and Carnegie Hall, and his now legendary status. Kelley showed photos of Monk and his family, and played excerpts from recordings that showed his musical development during that difficult time in the 1950s. His talk was followed by a lively Q&A with the “Standing Room Only" audience in the Comcast Circle Room at the Kimmel Center.

Professor Kelley, 49, a long time Monk fan in addition to his work as Professor of History and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, spent over a decade researching and writing the biography, and pointed out that he still needed to make minor revisions in the paperback version because of new information he received after the hardback was initially published.

Kelley had a book-signing after the lecture, and then attended the last-of-the-season “Celebrating Thelonious Monk" concert of Danilo Pérez's ongoing Jazz Up Close Series. The concert featured a set of Monk tunes orchestrated for ensembles with members of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute and the Boyer College of Music and Dance combining forces under the leadership of saxophonists Marco Pignataro and Dick Oatts, with the latter conducting a big band version of “Little Rootie Tootie." Following an intermission, Danilo Perez talked onstage with Martial Solal, who then performed an extensive set of solo piano improvisations.

Kelley's lecture, which he also presented to jazz students earlier in the day, was sponsored conjointly by the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, and the Jazz Up Close Series. The lecture was recorded for later podcast by the Philadelphia Music Project.

On the previous day, Kelley was honored at a luncheon held at the Capital Grille in Philadelphia, and in the evening he attended two sets of the group Monkadelphia at Chris' Jazz Café. Previously, he gave a talk at Stockton State College and, after Philadelphia, he headed up to Wesleyan University in Connecticut.


Related Articles / Book Reviews
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original

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