Franck Médioni – Mystère Monk

“You dreamed it, Sony did it!” was the Japanese company’s slogan a few years ago.

Well, this voluminous opus, aptly titled Mystère Monk, was not created by Sony, but by Franck Médioni. And in the microscopic world of jazz critics, everyone dreamed of it—or should have, if they had any respect for writing, iconography, and the selection of contributors.

All musicians and jazz lovers will say to themselves as they discover this book, leafing through it, devouring it with their eyes: “How did I not think of this sooner and/or why, frankly, didn’t Franck ask me to contribute to this collective work?” And you can feel your eyes welling up as you leaf through Mystère Monk, such is the aesthetic beauty and substance it contains, evoking a legitimate emotion. It is quite simply very beautiful, very well done (I should say “crafted”), full of quantitative and qualitative qualities, and one never tires of leafing through the pages of “Mystère Monk,” in which the mystery of the Harlem hermit unfolds as Franck Médionitakes us on a visual journey.

I’ll give you a little preview if you haven’t bought this major book yet:

— A cover that scatters the letters M, O, N & K in a random and bizarre manner, like a portal opening onto the strange strangeness of Thelonious Sphere M.

— A copious and fabulous iconography: sumptuous black and white photos, fine drawings, stunning paintings… often full-page, including many little-known photographs and painted portraits.

— A foreword (the only text written by Franck Médioni, who then steps aside) that is as brief as it is relevant.

— Contributions from international writers that make us dream of Mystery Monk being translated by our British, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Swiss, and Spanish neighbors… And often major contributions, whether from jazz critics, poets, musicians… I won’t even list a few of them so as not to arouse the ire of the jealous. It’s up to you to discover them…

— A chronology of Monk’s life on one or two double pages punctuates the reading of this wise, sensitive, and eclectic saga four times.

— Full-page quotes in bold type are scattered throughout, like pauses in the visual journey.

In short, as you will have understood, Mystery Monk is as much a superb work of art as it is a tribute to one of the most atypical, unclassifiable, and essential musicians that 20th-century music has ever seen… and then lost.

And I deliberately say “music” rather than “jazz” because Monk is such a monumental figure that he cannot be reduced to a single style. His idiom, his work, his life are larger than life, as the roastbeef and hamburger eaters say.

All that remains for me to do is to weave some well-deserved laurel wreaths for Mystery Monk published on Seghers by Mister Médioni, and to recommend that you give it to your loved ones for Xmas.