Blue Monk was written by Thelonious Monk. This is often one of the first 12 bar blues tunes that a jazz musician will learn. Listen to the way Thelonious plays a countermelody is his left hand during the last 4 bars of the tune. Monk’s countermelody is worth learning and using as part of your arrangements. 'Blue Monk' is a popular blues composed by the great Thelonious Monk. It was first recorded in 1954 for his Thelonious Monk Trio album and is a must-have for any jazz repertoire. The Nuts and Bolts It's always nice to have a few of Thelonious Monk's compositions in your jazz repertoire.
Exterior of 3341 SE Belmont Street in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic; the building housed the Blue Monk and later The Liquor Store | |
| Address | 3341 Southeast Belmont Street |
|---|---|
| Location | Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Coordinates | 45°31′00″N122°37′48″W / 45.51658°N 122.63000°WCoordinates: 45°31′00″N122°37′48″W / 45.51658°N 122.63000°W |
| Owner | Sheri Dietrich[1] |
| Type | |
| Closed | April 29, 2014 |
The Blue Monk was a bar, music venue, and restaurant in southeast Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Upstairs featured a restaurant with an open kitchen serving mostly Italian cuisine, while downstairs hosted music performances in a variety of genres, but mostly jazz. The business closed in April 2014 after its lease was bought out by an undisclosed party.
Description[edit]
The Blue Monk was a bar and music venue located at 3341 Southeast Belmont Street, in the Belmont retail and residential district in southeast Portland's Sunnyside neighborhood. The venue mostly hosted a variety of music performances, but mostly jazz, the inspiration of its name.[1][2] In her book Insiders' Guide to Portland, Oregon, Rachel Dresbeck offers the following description of the venue:
The Blue Monk started out as a jazz venue but has now expanded into related genres—including swing dancing and belly dancing... The Blue Monk has a good happy hour, good free pool, and a good cheap cover as well. Upstairs is a fetching contemporary room with an open kitchen, where cooks are busy preparing spaghetti, shrimp scampi, and other mostly Italian dishes. Downstairs, Portland's finest musicians are jamming.[3]
History[edit]
In March 2014, members of Portland Police Bureau's Gang Enforcement Team, who were reportedly responding to the fire marshal's report of overcrowding, limited venue access and blocked off the street during a concert scheduled to be headlined by battle rapper and hip hop artist Illmaculate. However, to protest the police presence, Illmaculate left the venue before taking the stage, ending the basement show early.[1][2][4] Following the incident, the rapper tweeted, 'I will not perform in this city as long as the blatant targeting of black culture and minorities congregating is acceptable common practice.'[2] The show's disruption contributed to recent accusations from the local hip hop community that Portland Police was executing an 'ongoing, targeted assault' on rap shows.[4][5]
In April 2014, the bar's lease was bought out by an undisclosed party. The Blue Monk closed permanently on April 29,[1][2] and was replaced by The Liquor Store.[6] Personnel offered little explanation,[7] but said on Facebook:
After over a decade of providing entertainment to the Belmont area, The Blue Monk will be closing its doors on Tuesday, April 29th. We are proud to have become possibly the most diverse venue in Portland with a little bit of something for everyone, including poetry, literary events, belly dance, comedy, pop, folk, bluegrass, swing, rock, funk, soul, electronica, hip-hop, and of course, jazz. There is just one week to stop by to say farewell, check out some great live music, and/or enjoy your favorite menu items. We would love to see you before we go and extend a heartfelt thank you to all of the customers, performers, promoters, and employees that have made us who we are.[1][2]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abcdeGreenwald, David (April 22, 2014). 'The Blue Monk closing on April 29'. The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon: Advance Publications. ISSN8750-1317. Retrieved July 9, 2016.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^ abcde'The Blue Monk Is Closing Next Week'. Willamette Week. Portland, Oregon: City of Roses Newspapers. April 22, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2016.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^Insiders' Guide to Portland:
- Dresbeck, Rachel (March 1, 2011). Insiders' Guide to Portland, Oregon (7 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 103. ISBN9780762774777. Retrieved July 9, 2016.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- Dresbeck, Rachel (March 18, 2014). Insiders' Guide to Portland, Oregon. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 85. ISBN9781493007813. Retrieved July 9, 2016.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^ abSinger, Matthew (March 2, 2014). 'Illmaculate Declares 'I Will Not Perform In This City' After Police Swarm The Blue Monk: The Portland rapper left his own show in protest'. Willamette Week. Retrieved July 9, 2016.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^Benson, Thor (September 18, 2013). 'Portland Has a Hip-Hop Problem'. Vice. Retrieved July 9, 2016.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^https://pdx.eater.com/2020/9/25/21456718/the-liquor-store-for-lease
- ^Sawyer, Cassie (December 31, 2014). 'RIP: 12 Shuttered Portland Bars and Restaurants We'll Miss'. Thrillist Media Group. Retrieved July 9, 2016.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
External links[edit]
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blue Monk (Portland, Oregon). |
Blue Monkey
- The Blue Monk on Facebook
- 'The Blue Monk'. Allmenus. GrubHub Seamless.
- 'The Blue Monk'. Beer Advocate.
- 'Blue Monk'. Time Out. Time Out Group.
In Bebop: The Music and Its Players, Thomas Owens says, “‘Blue Monk’ and ‘Well You Needn’t,’ from a 1964 jazz-club performance in Los Angeles, are wonderful illustrations of bebop at its most joyous. ‘Blue Monk’ is Monk’s simplest, old-time blues melody (even New Orleans street bands play it). The main motive--a four-note chromatic rise in eighth notes--is the melodic springboard for several of Monk’s choruses.” Owens further describes “Blue Monk” as lyrical and easily sung.
Vocalist Abbey Lincoln created lyrics for the tune and recorded it as “Monkery’s the Blues” in 1961 with the approval of Monk himself. Carmen McRae recorded Lincoln’s lyrics in 1995 on Carmen Sings Monk, and Karrin Allyson sang them on her Daydream CD (1997) as part of a Monk medley which includes “Get It Straight” (Monk’s “Straight, No Chaser” with lyrics by Sally Swisher) and “You Know Who/I Mean You” with lyrics by Jon Hendricks.
Blue Monkey Bar
As Donald L. Maggin says in Dizzy: The Life and Times of John Birks Gillespie, “Monk’s fortunes were at an ebb, because in 1950 his quirky style was too ‘far out’ for all but a handful of jazz fans; it would be another decade before the jazz public would absorb and understand what he was doing and give him the acclaim he deserved.”
Blue Monk Thelonious Monk
Lincoln’s lyrics, which describe Monk’s difficulties, could apply to Abbey herself since she, too, struggled early in her career to reach jazz audiences:
Being complete,
Knowing defeat,
Keepin’ on from year to year.
It takes some doing
Monkery’s the blues you hear.
“Blue Monk” continues to find favor with contemporary musicians such as pianists Marcus Roberts, McCoy Tyner, Abdullah Ibrahim, and Fred Hersch; trombonist Bill Watrous, guitarist Gene Bertoncini, and bassists Ron Carter and Michael Bisio; trumpeter Clark Terry, saxophonist Arthur Blythe, and drummer Dick Berk.