Solo piano performance of Thelonious Monk's Ruby My Dear played by Olly Stevenson, and accompanied by a small fly that wanted to be on YouTube :) Hello! I hope you all enjoy my performance of one of my favourite Monk compositions, along with probably his most notable tunes Round Midnight. This tune has a beautiful melody and some really interesting harmonic changes that are very typical of Monk. I've tried to capture Monk's style from his solo piano album recording of this (emphasis on tried - I find Monk's playing is almost impossible to imitate!) whilst adding a few of my own ideas.
I haven't really improvised on this piece as I feel it's just a brilliant tune as it is and one that tends to play itself.
Whenever I start to take playing music too seriously, I just listen to some Thelonious Monk (although I realise I look very serious in this video - I've been quite stressed recently!) - his boldness to just play what he wanted and not what anyone else wanted to hear is very inspirational, and I often remind myself of my favourite Monk quote - The piano ain't got no wrong notes!
I hope you enjoy this video and please do leave a comment or a like if you did, it's always appreciated! Thanks, Olly
