Release Date: June 17, 2025
Prices and Links:
Criterion- $31.96
Amazon- $39.95
DiabolikDVD- $29.99
Director: Charlotte Zwerin
Narrator: Samuel E. Wright
Producers: Charlotte Zwerin, Clint Eastwood
The closest a film camera ever got to enigmatic jazz visionary Thelonious Monk, this intimate portrait sheds light on the corners of a brilliant and complex life. Superbly crafted by Direct Cinema pioneer Charlotte Zwerin from a trove of precious 1960s archival footage, Thelonious Monk Straight, No Chaser captures the pianist and bebop innovator in rare, unguarded moments on- and offstage, revealing an eccentric and complicated personality. Made with the same freedom of spirit that defines Monk’s artistry, this essential slice of jazz history is a unique glimpse into the quixotic world of one of the twentieth century’s most revolutionary artists.
Prices and Links:
Criterion- $31.96
Amazon- $39.95
DiabolikDVD- $29.99
Director: Charlotte Zwerin
Narrator: Samuel E. Wright
Producers: Charlotte Zwerin, Clint Eastwood
- United States
- 1988
- 89 minutes
- Color/Black and White
- 1.33:1
- English
The closest a film camera ever got to enigmatic jazz visionary Thelonious Monk, this intimate portrait sheds light on the corners of a brilliant and complex life. Superbly crafted by Direct Cinema pioneer Charlotte Zwerin from a trove of precious 1960s archival footage, Thelonious Monk Straight, No Chaser captures the pianist and bebop innovator in rare, unguarded moments on- and offstage, revealing an eccentric and complicated personality. Made with the same freedom of spirit that defines Monk’s artistry, this essential slice of jazz history is a unique glimpse into the quixotic world of one of the twentieth century’s most revolutionary artists.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Introduction by director Charlotte Zwerin
- New interview with musician T. S. Monk, son of Thelonious Monk
- New program about Zwerin and the making of the film featuring interviews with writer Michael Schulman, assistant editor Bernadine Colish, and Zwerin’s nieces Lisa and Laura Tesone
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by musician and scholar Paul Grimstad
