Thelonious Monk and the Five Spot: an Oasis from Racism

            Thelonious Monk moved to the San Juan Hill tenements at the age of four from North Carolina (Kelley 16). Racial tensions were prevalent in the neighborhood, formerly a setting for multiple race riots between 1900 and World War I. Though the area was cordoned into blocks belonging to different groups of black migrants—southern, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and so on—the main avenues were inhabited by European immigrant groups (Kelley 18). Monk recalled of the cultural violence, “You go in the next block and you’re in another country. Don’t look at a chick living in the next block and expect to be taking her home and all that; you might not make it” (Kelley 19). He also developed an aversion to the police early in his life, remembering, “Anything you did, if you ran or something, [the cops] called you black bastards” (Kelley 19). For black children, travel (particularly the walk to and from school) accordingly became a group activity for safety. At the school, P.S. 141, the children faced discrimination by the teachers despite the black majority of the school (Kelley 21). As a teenager, Monk developed a reputation in gang circles for his capability to fistfight (Kelley 33).

            Despite his childhood experience, Monk came to largely disregard racial discrimination as an adult, as if ignorance would eradicate the fact. Even as a kid, Monk was taught piano in the European tradition by an Austrian Jew and became a mascot for a rural, white fire department (Kelley 21, 26). Monk’s sidemen were all black, but this reflected choice by talent rather than by race (Kelley 229). Though the main bar Monk played at, the Five Spot, was founded with white musicians and clientele, it developed a diverse audience with respect to age, status, and race during Monk’s tenure there (Kelley 227, 256). This community was bound together by the shared love of dissonant, avant-garde jazz, and was an oasis of tolerance—embodying the Bohemian atmosphere in which Monk thrived. Beyond providing his sustenance, the Five Spot represented a community in which Monk enjoyed great respect and found exemption from the racial tension which consumed other musicians like Miles Davis (Kelley 239) (Lecture 2.28.2013).

            Monk did have an affinity for African artistic traditions. Bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik brought North African modality into Monk’s band (Kelley 236). Monk befriended Guy Warren, a Ghanaian who introduced Monk to the complex rhythms of West African drumming, inspiring Monk’s composition “Bluehawk” (Kelley 245). The African trinkets sent by Warren enthralled Monk.

            White patronage helped to let Monk transcend racial disputes. A white manager, Harry Colomby, was able to convince the court to reinstate Monk’s cabaret card, the New York City license for nightclub employees (Kelley 225). White fans helped Monk move about the city between gigs (Kelley 234). Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, known as Nica, was Monk’s greatest patron. Beyond rides in her Bentley, Nica took care of Monk and let him rehearse with band members in her house. It was Monk’s denial of Jim Crow that led to his arrest in 1958 while with Nica. Monk walked into a hotel kitchen and asked the owner’s white wife for some water, prompting her to summon the police. Monk, not understanding the casus belli, resisted and later struck at the police. He was arrested, beaten, convicted, and stripped of his cabaret card—for the third time, no less. Nica posted Monk’s bond and saved him from a marijuana position charge. Monk fell into a prolonged psychiatric breakdown, partially because he could not cognize that he was abused by the police because of race (Kelley 255).