Monk was someone that we used to go down to his house, some of us, and he'd let us come in and listen to him play. When I was about fifteen, he let me come one time and sit in with him when he was playing in the Bronx. Of course, I couldn't play anything. I was only playing a year. Monk made himself available to a lot of young guys at that time. He liked people that were interested in music. If he saw a young guy trying to play, he certainly didn't get in the way of it. He tried to support it.
Jackie McLean
I was a bebop baby. All of those guys thought, "Oh, man, little Jackie," because I was younger than Sonny. Sonny was a bebop baby too, but I was younger than Sonny and looked younger than him. I was chubby and had a real youthful look and my voice didn't change until late. Bud and Monk, as well as Bird, they would all, "Oh, yeah, Jackie." Suddenly, after the two and a half years that I sat in Bud's house, practically on a daily basis, because I went to Bud's house at least four to five times per week, every week for two and a half years. I'd spend the night down there. My mother would let me go down there and sleep over. It was just incredible, all the music I heard.
Jackie McLean
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