Jazz Baroness Documentary Sheds New Light on Unlikely Friendship

Brought up in considerable luxury in England she relocated to New York after the war where she discovered the bebop scene, becoming a friend and patron to many of the jazz musicians on the Big Apple scene particularly Charlie Parker (who actually died in her hotel suite) and Thelonious Monk who named tunes after her and who she took under her wing. The new documentary, directed by Nica’s great-niece Hannah, with the voice of Nica interpreted by Helen Mirren, is a fascinating glimpse into the contrasting lives of Nica and Monk, filled with wonderful archive film and interviews with among others, Monk’s son, Clint Eastwood, Quincy Jones, Curtis Fuller, Roy Haynes in trademark cowboy hat, Archie Shepp, and a dazzlingly bearded, shades-wearing Sonny Rollins. The film charts how Nica courted controversy taking the rap, and going to prison, when she and Monk were caught in a car with drugs and how the pair cut an unlikely sight in the racially-charged atmosphere of the 1940s and 50s. Truly a labour of love The Jazz Baroness airs on BBC4 on 17 April. For more go to www.thejazzbaroness.co.uk