Monk: It’s the High Priest of Bebop talking.
Nellie: (Laughing) Oh, God!
Monk: The one and only Thelonious Monk. The greatest pianist in the world.
Nellie: Who’d you say you were?
Monk: The High Priest of Bebop.
Nellie: And?
Monk: The one and only great musician.
Nellie: And?
Monk: The greatest musician who ever lived.
Nellie: And?
Monk: Huh? How much other shit you want me to be?
Nellie: I don’t know, darling, anything you want to be.
Private recording, circa 1961.
Robin D.G. Kelley. Thelonious Monk. The Life and Times of an American Original. Free Press. 2009
