Northwest Film Forum

In My Mind compares and contrasts two great concerts separated by half a century but united by the power of jazz. In 2009, award-winning pianist Jason Moran paid tribute to one of his own heroes, Thelonious Monk. The occasion was the 50th anniversary of Monk’s historic 1959 Town Hall Concert, his first with a large ensemble. Playing in the same venue, Moran and his Big Bandwagon—which includes Monk’s original French horn player, Robert “Brother Ah” Northern—offer a contemporary spin on Monk’s iconoclastic sound, abetted by collaborating visual artists Glenn Ligon and David Dempewolf. Hawkins’ film includes photographer and audiophile Eugene Smith’s newly unearthed images and recordings of Monk’s rehearsals from the Jazz Loft in New York.