[Jazz & Song] Monk, Thelonious Sphere. (1917 - 1982)

Monk at the Five Spot

New York: Caliban Press. 2014. Beautiful handmade book, Number 28 of 125 copies. Signed and numbered by the printer (Mark McMurray) and artist (Guy Berard). Bound in Celtic grey handmade paper covers with green cloth spine and circular paper title label "5". Large circular cut out to front cover revealing yellow spot and black number five. The text first appeared in Down Beat magazine on February 13, 1964 and has been edited. Illustrated with a revolving map and a double page centerpiece collage by Guy Berard. The collage is based on a photograph from 1958 of the Thelonious Monk Quartet playing at The Five Spot Cafe. 11 pp. Fine.

"The Five Spot Cafe was one of New York City's most legendary Jazz Clubs ... with repeated extended stays by Thelonious Monk and his various quartets ... The club also became a destination for New York's avante-garde of the period. Abstract expressionist painters as well as poets Frank O'Hara and Amri Baraka were frequently in the audience. Other writers, critics, and journalists came too, including Martin T. Williams (1924 - 1992) a noted jazz critic and contributor to The New York Times and Harpers Magazine" (artist statement). (11590)


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