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Thelonious Monk’s unlikely Palo Alto High show becomes thrilling live album

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  1. boredop
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    A previously unheard Thelonious Monk concert recording from 1968 is due to be released next month. The story behind it is great! One song from the concert has been released on youtube, Monk's...

    A previously unheard Thelonious Monk concert recording from 1968 is due to be released next month. The story behind it is great!

    The unlikely concert came about due to the precocious machinations of Danny Scher, who was taking his first steps toward his future role as rock impresario Bill Graham’s right-hand man.

    “Jazz was my thing, but I wasn’t old enough to get into the Jazz Workshop,” says Scher, referring to the storied North Beach jazz club where Monk’s quartet performed regularly through the ’60s. “I was in the International Club at Palo Alto High, and we wanted to do a fundraiser for it.”

    So Scher contacted Monk’s manager and arranged for the pianist’s quartet to headline a triple bill at the Paly High Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 27, 1968, while the band was in the midst of a run at the Jazz Workshop. Tickets were $2.

    The concert was preserved by an audiophile janitor who asked to record the event in exchange for tuning the piano.

    One song from the concert has been released on youtube, Monk's "Epistrophy."

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