A Violent Kind of Genius

            According to Kelley, the single biggest influence on Monk’s early development was his time spent in the Columbus Hill Neighborhood Center.  While this center allowed kids to take athletics, art and trade classes, it also became the center of social activity for kids on the West Side. This social activity gave the kids in San Juan Hill a sense of community in the face of the violence that plagued the neighborhood.

            This sense of tight-knit community not only affected Monk in the center, but also at home. In the early 1900’s, just before Monk’s arrival, San Juan Hill had a mass exodus to Harlem. This migration brought a mixture of other peoples onto the Hill. The subsequent mixing of cultures influenced Monk’s childhood as he learned music from the Caribbeans and West Indians that lived in his building. “With the music cuisine, dialect and manners of the Caribbean and the American South everywhere in the West 60’s, virtually every kid became sort of a cultural hybrid. Thelonius absorbed Caribbean music” (Thelonius Monk, p.23).

            San Juan Hill also boasted the biggest collection of Black musicians before the Harlem Renaissance. This within the strong community of the Hill brought music and culture to the forefront of Monk’s formative years. His mother “did what she could to introduce her children to the city’s rich cultural life” including bringing a piano into their apartment which Monk immediately learned to play (Thelonious Monk, p.22).

            This is what people mean when they say that jazz is New York. Jazz and art is the product of individuals like Monk, but these individuals are the product of the unique culture that is New York City. The same can be said for the music and art coming out of other tight-knit communities like Leimert Park.

            Both Leimert Park and San Juan Hill are known to be violent places to live. San Juan Hill was known to be one of the most violent neighborhoods in Manhattan. Police expected “at least one small riot on the Hill…each week” (Theolonius Monk, p. 17). This culminated in a ‘race war’ that happened in 1905. Leimert Park in South Central Los Angeles was the site of the Race Riots following the exoneration of the police offers accused of beating Rodney King after a routine traffic stop.

            Leimert Park had other things in common with San Juan Hill during the rise of their artistic production. They had community centers that displayed art, such as 5^th Street Dicks Coffee House and The World Stage. They also have a strong cohesive sense of community that allows them to overcome the violence of their locality. This mutual connectedness was exhibited during the Rodney King riots when a museum of African Artifacts was in danger of burning down and people were rushed to move all the pieces across the street until the danger subsided. Not a single piece of art was stolen that day because, like the people of San Juan Hill, the art and culture was tied to their sense of community. This made the art coming out of Leimert Park more powerful and influential.

            People are products of their communities, but not always in the same vein. Violence, Drugs, and Gangs can draw one person in and force another person to move far away. Similarly, jazz musicians and their community are intertwined. Whether they grew up there, or merely performed there, each community has an impact on the style and mood of a musician’s jazz. To me, there is an inseparable causal relationship between an artist and their community, and jazz is no exception to this rule.

Comment: Neel Sabnis