User:Cullen328/sandbox/Monk

Monk had called Hendricks "the only one I want to lyricize my music," and Hendricks was the only vocalist ever to record with Monk.

The film was a featured presentation at the National Educational Film and Video Festival in Oakland, California in May, 1990.

Planning for the film began within weeks of Monk's death in 1982. The production company, Songfilms, had a history producing successful music videos, and was a partnership between Paul Matthews and Stephen Rice.

Critical reception
A review in the Los Angeles Daily News said that the film "stands today as one of the greatest jazz films ever made", a "masterful piece of work", and "the model for future jazz film endeavors." A review in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner said that "Much hard work and detectivelike stealth went into the making of" the film. In the Peninsula Times Tribune, a reviewer wrote, "The film's most outstanding attribute is its commitment to let Monk's own music stand as a kind of musical biography." The same reviewer later wrote that the film's "aggregate effect makes it one of the most honest and moving films about jazz in several decades. Above all, the film presents a complete impression of Monk - as a musician and as a human being." Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, a reviewer said that the film is a "superbly crafted documentary that tells the story of his art by deftly mixing footage of Monk performances with interviews with musicians and family, still photographs, live performances of Monk's music by musicians who'd worked with him, and Jon Hendrick's pithy, lyrical narration."

Awards
In 1984, the film won a bronze medal at the New York Film Festival.