Friday, January 23, 2009

Baby Name Rejects: Thelonious Lewandowski

I don't think Karine would be opposed to naming our son after one of the great musical geniuses of the twentieth century. But Thelonious would be a pretty tough sell. What would we call him for short? Onious?

This business of naming our child is starting to get a little intense.

Thelonious Monk

Monk was a little eccentric. He used to get off his piano bench during solos and do a little dance. No one else in jazz is really known for doing that. The spirit moved Monk to dance in funny little circles while his bandmates played on. It made sense to him.

He toured the states in 1971 with bassist Al McKibbon and and drummer Art Blakey. These guys had known each other for twenty years. Monk didn't talk to either one of them the whole tour. McKibbon remembers the tour years later: "On that tour Monk said about two words. I mean literally maybe two words. He didn't say 'Good morning', 'Goodnight', 'What time?' Nothing." After the tour ended Monk said that he couldn't speak because McKibbon and Blakey were too ugly.

Here's the mad scientist at work in Paris, 1966.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think your boys' middle name should be Andrew. This could be in honor of Anne. So when he gets his full name spoken to him it will remind you and him of his wonderful Aunt. I realize it's not the same as Anne, but it sounds similar when spoken. Just an idea. It's not as creative as other ideas but I thought it would be a nice match with whatever first name you guys choose. Just my 2 bits.....
Sheri Broad

Unknown said...

It would be onerous and odious to name your chid Theolonius. Why not use one of my uncle's names? I have an Uncle named Dukin and another one named Farmond, Jr. I had a great uncle named Loveless. No joke. And he was well. . . loveless. My grandfather was French, and his name was Yves. That's always a good name for a kid.

Anonymous said...

Randomly came across your page and noticed your comment on "What would the nickname be?" I know this is years old and is most likely a non-issue anymore, but I wanted to add a thought-

My sons name is Thelonious and we call him "Thelo" for short. Rhymes with hello, very easy for others to remember.