Monk's Mood

Thomas F. DeFrantz on

Creating Monk’s Mood

Creating tap dance phrases in response to Monk’s evocative and erratic playing inspired the Wall of Sound approach that often works against the basic pulse of the music. The digital pads on the stage are connected by computers to audio and video mixers to generate sound and image. Dance steps trigger the sound and imagery that accompany the story of Monk’s life. The pads take on the character of the Baroness; become the Jazz All Stars that Monk performed with, however briefly; and offer a compositional device for his ode to Billie Holiday.