I only met Derek a handful of times as Aoibhe and my sister Jenny are close friends. It was a delight to talk to him about jazz and especially piano genius Thelonious Monk. The riffs, the chromatic notes, the chord progressions, the drum shuffles - to discuss them with a composer is a real treat. We discussed Monk's album Brilliant Corners from 1957 and I put forth my theory that Max Roach's drum solo in the title track influenced the shuffling style Dave Grohl later used on Nirvana's, In Bloom. Derek found this very plausible and made a very witty comment about Mr Monk that I've never forgotten ....'Well he did have some brilliant corners.' From reading the stories in recent days about Derek himself this applies to him too. Rest well, brave pilgrim.
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