Thelonious Monk - Pannonica

October 20 -- Twenty- four years ago today, "Straight No Chaser," the Thelonious Monk biopic was released. A labor of love for jazz-fan producer Clint Eastwood, the film garnered wide critical acclaim for its treatment of the brilliant and highly eccentric piano player. In the early 1980s a treasure trove of archival footage was found, much of it centered around Monk's successful 1967 European tour, and Eastwood's film was, in large part, built around this footage. The revelatory and wonderfully intact images from the 50s and 60s, as well as posthumous interviews with surviving contemporaries and family members, captivated international audiences and the film remains a classic. Pannonica, a lyrical paean to Monk's mysterious patroness, baroness Nica de Koenigswarter, was featured on the soundtrack accompanying images of her cat-filled high-rise home where Monk spent much of his later years in seclusion . One of many he made throughout his career, this rendition of the piece appears on the 1964 album "Monk." The typically angular Monk melody is played by saxophonist Charlie Rouse.