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?
San Juan Hill is a small community in New York. Historically known for
its racial violence, it was a dangerous place (especially for blacks) when the
Monks moved there in 1922. To survive, the children of each neighborhood formed
a small community, and protected each other. This brought them together in a
unique way, and later in life allowed Thelonius Monk to mature into the musical
genius that he was always meant to be.
“I did all that fighting with ofays [whites] when I was a kid. We had to
fight to make it so we could walk the streets,” Monk once said. (Kelley, 18)
San Juan Hill was neither nice nor forgiving. It bred delinquency, and so as a
solution, a community center was established in 1928, just down the street from
the Monks. The Columbus Hill Community Center became one of young Thelonius Monk’s
greatest influences. (Kelley, 28) It gave them a community, and a safe place to
be at after school. It helped to shape Monk’s jazz by giving him a place to
practice, an automatic audience to play for, as well as fellow musicians to
play with. He formed his first band from friends at the community center.
(Kelley, 35) His audience there was made up of friends who could always give
him helpful encouragement, as well as unrivaled enthusiasm. He strived to
impress his community. In addition, the band he formed there went on to be
rather successful for what it was. By the time he was sixteen, Monk was paying
for his own clothes and food, as well as giving his mother some of the money
that he made from paying various shows, or winning contests. (Kelley, 35-36) With
this money, he was able to travel to Harlem and watch professional jazz
artists, most notably Herman Chittison. He gained much of his style and
inspiration from watching these shows.
This is part of what is meant by “jazz is New York, man!” Jazz brought
the community together; it was far-reaching, popular and respected, and
provided an enjoyable, productive activity that anyone could participate in.
The other part of this statement, however, comes from the diversity of cultures
present at the time. Jamaicans, African Americans, Spanish, French, Germans,
Jews, Italians, West Indians and whites all lived in the small community of San
Juan Hill. (Kelley, 18) This type of ‘melting pot’ preexisted in almost every
place that jazz has erupted during its short history. This is what is truly
meant by “jazz is New York, man!”
The relationship of jazz to the Leimert Park community is very similar
to this. Leimert Park is a small neighborhood in Las Angeles, California. In
the early 1990’s, riots and violence were rampant near Leimert Park in LA. In
1992, Richard Fulton opened a coffeehouse that became a sort of community art
center. People would go there to listen to music (mostly jazz) or show their
art at all hours of the night, in lieu of the violence occurring nearby. In
this way, both the Leimert Park and the San Juan Hill communities used art to
separate themselves from destruction. It brought the communities together,
united them against violence, and promoted art all at the same time.
The community of San Juan Hill was one of the most important influences
on young Thelonius Monk’s jazz genius. Art has brought many communities
together in the face of violence by providing a sanctuary of peace and love.
People cease to judge others based on unimportant factors such as race or where
they live, instead collaborating and uniting in the name of art. San Juan Hill
and Leimert Park are two perfect example of this phenomenon.
I enjoyed your blog and especially your commentary on the role of the Columbus Hill Community Center. That was a great contribution to Monk’s growth and helped to shape him as a human and artist. The “melting pot” culture of New York also greatly attributed to Jazz and New York and in particular Monk’s music with a blend of Caribbean sounds in some of his songs. With the violence and social unrest in both the San Juan Hill community and Leimert Park you can see the connection between the two as well as parallel growth to centers of art and jazz. Both were able to create something beautiful out of the violence and that is an amazing attribution that both these communities and jazz share.
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a good job describing the mechanisms by which San Juan Hill shaped the community and the music. The difficult conditions there led to the formation of small communities, where music was produced. This idea is reiterated in Leimert Park, where communities formed in response to violent conditions, and resulted in the production of fantastic jazz.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what was said of the comparison between Leimert Park and the San Juan Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. One additional point that I think you could have touched on was the similarities between the Columbus Hill Community Center and the World Stage in Leimert Park, and how those two venues were similar in their purpose of community development.
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