Keith Saunders Trio – Thelonious Monk 100th Birthday Celebration

Please join us in celebrating the 100th birthday of Thelonious Monk, a true American jazz original.  Monk was a jazz pianist and composer whose unique improvisational style and idiosyncratic performance habits made him famous enough to be on the cover of Time Magazine.   As a composer, he is the second most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington (which is particularly remarkable as Ellington wrote over 1,000 pieces whereas Monk wrote about 70).  Monk was awarded both a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Pulitzer Prize for “a body of distinguished and innovative musical composition that has had a significant and enduring impact on the evolution of jazz”.

The SLO County Jazz Federation is excited to present the Keith Saunders Trio in a Thelonious Monk 100th Birthday Celebration Concert on Saturday Oct. 7 at the Unity Concert Hall (1130 Orcutt Road/SLO) at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7).  The outstanding San Francisco pianist Keith Saunders will be accompanied by Eric Markowitz on bass and Jimmy Gallagher drums. General admission is $20 ($10 for students). Advance tickets are available through BrownPaperTickets.com and Boo Boo Records in SLO.   SLO County Jazz Federation members will be admitted free of charge.

To further celebrate on the actual 100th birthday of pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, the Jazz Federation will screen the classic 1988 Monk documentary “Straight, No Chaser” on Tuesday Oct. 10 (7pm) at the Palm Theatre (817 Palm/SLO).  A New York Times review stated that the movie contained “some of the most valuable jazz ever shot” as the close up shots of Monk’s hands on the piano reveals his unusual technique.  The film is generally praised for giving an intimate view of the otherwise reserved Monk.  Admission is $10.