Post 4: Art and Community—The Power of Jazz

Arguably, both Robin Kelley's biography of Thelonious Monk and the film, Leimert Park, are about the relationship of art and community. What is the relationship of  Monk's genius to the San Juan Hill community where he grew up, according to Kelley?  How did it shape Monk's music? Is this what some mean by "Jazz is New York, man!?" Or something else?  Is the relationship of jazz to the community in Leimert Park the same or different from the relationship Kelley outlines? What do you think is the relationship between art and the communities in which jazz musicians grow up and/or perform?

The conversation between art and community is a critical aspect in the formation of jazz. The African tradition of blurring the line between performer and audience is prominent in jazz as well. The history of jazz in African American urban environments shows that the form comes about amidst a plethora of violence and crime. Rather than areas receding and resigning themselves to such negativity, they reinvent themselves through art and jazz and come together as a stronger and more resilient community; the neighborhoods of San Juan Hill, where Thelonious Monk grew up, and Leimert Park, in Los Angeles, are great examples of this characteristic.

When Barbara Monk moved her family from North Carolina to New York, namely the neighborhood of San Juan Hill, young Thelonious was thrown into a world of jazz creation and a strongly musical community. In fact, “before the Harlem Renaissance pushed the black musical center of gravity up above 125th Street...San Juan Hill boasted the largest concentration of black musicians in the city” (Kelley, 31). Indeed, many creative minds that brought new perspectives to jazz did come from New York musicians—whether from San Juan Hill or Harlem—such as Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson and Thelonious Monk. Thelonious’s early influence lay in Caribbean music—”through the radio and the sounds of the Victrola pouring out of of his neighbors’ apartments…[he] absorbed Caribbean music” (Kelley, 26). A “local jazz musician...named Alberta Simmons” had “the greatest impact on Thelonious’s early development” (Kelley, 24). She was a piano teacher that made a living playing ragtime and stride piano and she taught Monk many of the techniques he later went on to use with his left hand as a stride pianist. Thelonious became a skilled pianist with creative talent that one may call “genius”. Whether he had an innate talent or no talent at all, it is clear that the community he was a part of played a huge role in shaping his interest in music and, furthermore, his career as a jazz musician. Monk, along with many other prominent jazz artists in the Big Apple at the time, prove the statement: “What is Jazz? New York, man!”.

The community of Leimert Park was another that was faced with criminal activity, and still came together as a community at the end of the day. The Watts Los Angeles Riots in 1965 affected the neighboring area of Leimert Park and imposed a tragedy on the neighborhood. Nonetheless, the community came together through a shared desire of facilitating artists and developing their own unique culture. Indeed, 5th Street Dick’s, a coffee shop in Leimert Park, is a great example of this. When the owner, Richard Fulton, decided to set up tables on the sidewalk outside his shop, the neighborhood came together, leaving behind their alcohol and cigarettes, to partake in activities such as chess and appreciation of the jazz playing in the shop. Leimert Park took the tragedy they faced as motivation to turn the area into one with a resilient culture and a strong sense of community.

The communication between art and community—an overlying theme throughout the history of jazz—is seen in both the communities of San Juan Hill and Leimert Park. Both of these communities, despite facing economic hardship and prominent criminal activity, found a way to come together through jazz. Thelonious Monk and many other jazz musicians in New York, along with Leimert Park community members such as Richard Fulton, demonstrate the power of jazz and art in bringing together a community despite negativity.

Commented on Morgan Brubaker’s blog.