Thelonious Monk

Working with unseen outtakes from a 1969 French TV interview, director Alain Gomis fashions a riveting, sharp-edged essay on the media’s treatment of a genius of jazz piano, Thelonious Monk. Hypnotic, nerve-wrangling, and immersive, Rewind and Play lets the music—and the silence—do the talking.

Part one of a two-part portrait of the great Jazz composer and pianist. In 1968, Thelonious Monk and his musicians play at the Village Vanguard and at recording sessions for Columbia Records in New York. In Atlanta they appear at a Jazz Festival organized by George Wein. The members of Monk's quartet are Charlie Rouse, Larry Gales, and Ben Riley.

Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser highlights the life of one of the most extraordinary individuals in the history of jazz.