''Round About Midnight'' is an album by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

that was originally released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

in March 1957. It was Davis' first album with Columbia.

Background

At the

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hir ...

in 1955, Davis performed the song Round Midnight" as part of an all-star jam session, with the song's composer

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...

, along with Connie Kay and Percy Heath of the

Modern Jazz Quartet The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. For most of its history the Quartet consisted of John Lewis (piano), Milt Jackson (vibraphone), Percy ...

Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...

, and

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...

. Davis's solo received a positive reception from many jazz fans and critics. His response to this performance was typically laconic: "What are they talking about? I just played the way I always play."

George Avakian George Mesrop Avakian (; russian: Геворк Авакян; March 15, 1919 – November 22, 2017) was an American record producer, artist manager, writer, educator and executive. Best known for his work from 1939 to the early 1960s at Decca Re ...

of Columbia Records was in the audience, and his brother Aram persuaded him that he ought to sign Davis to the label. Davis signed with Columbia and formed his " first great quintet" with

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...

on saxophone. ''Round About Midnight'' was his first album for the label. He was still under contract to

Prestige Prestige refers to a good reputation or high esteem; in earlier usage, ''prestige'' meant "showiness". (19th c.) Prestige may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films * ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnet ...

, but he had an agreement that he could record material for Columbia to release after the expiration of his Prestige contract. Recording took place at Columbia studios; the first session was on October 26, 1955 at Studio D, during which the track "Ah-Leu-Cha" was recorded with three numbers that did not appear on the album. This is the first studio recording of the quintet. The remainder of the album was recorded during sessions on June 5, 1956 ("Dear Old Stockholm", "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "Tadd's Delight") and September 10, 1956 ("All of You" and the titular Round Midnight") at Columbia's 30th Street Studio. During the same period, the Miles Davis Quintet was also recording sessions to fulfill its contract with Prestige.

Reissues

On April 17, 2001,

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

reissued the album on compact disc for its Columbia/Legacy label with

24-bit Notable 24-bit machines include the CDC 924 – a 24-bit version of the CDC 1604, CDC lower 3000 series, SDS 930 and SDS 940, the ICT 1900 series, the Elliott 4100 series, and the Datacraft minicomputers/Harris H series. The term SWORD i ...

audio remastering and four previously released bonus tracks from the initial sessions. "Budo" had been released as part of the 1957 anthology album on Columbia, ''Jazz Omnibus'', and "

Sweet Sue, Just You "Sweet Sue, Just You" is an American popular song of 1928, composed by Victor Young with lyrics by Will J. Harris. Popular versions in 1928 were by Earl Burtnett (vocal by the Biltmore Trio) and by Ben Pollack (vocal by Franklyn Baur). It has be ...

" had appeared on the 1956 album by

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

explaining jazz to the classical audience, ''What Is Jazz''. A two-disc reissue of June 14, 2005, included the 2001 reissue with a second disc containing Davis' 1955

performance of Round Midnight", along with a recording of the quintet's set from the 1956 Pacific Jazz Festival. The Newport track had been released for the first time the previous year on the Legacy compilation ''Happy Birthday Newport: 50 Swinging Years!''

Reception

In his five-star review in the May 16, 1957 issue of ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Ch ...

'' magazine, Ralph J. Gleason called the album "modern jazz conceived and executed in the very best style." Ralph Berton of ''The Record Changer'' called the album "orthodox, middle-of-the-road conservative progressive jazz." ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' said it "sounds like a footnote" to the Prestige contractual obligation sessions (''

Miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 Engli ...

'', '' Relaxin''', '' Workin''', '' Steamin''', and '' Cookin''') and that "the material is fine but somehow fails to cast quite the consistent spell which the Prestige recordings do." Bob Rusch of ''

Cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (199 ...

'' wrote, "everything about this date, from the black-and-white cover photo, washed in red, of Miles Davis, removed in thought behind dark glasses, to the performances, is classic. Not surprisingly, careful packaging and exquisite artistry have created a legend and, in this case, one of the essential recordings in the history of recorded music."

Track listing

Side one

Side two

* Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–6 on CD reissues.

2001 bonus tracks

2005 anniversary edition bonus disc

* All tracks were recorded live at the Pacific Jazz Festival, Pasadena Civic Auditorium, February 18, 1956, except where indicated.

Personnel

* Miles Davis – trumpet *

– tenor saxophone *

Red Garland William McKinley "Red" Garland Jr. (May 13, 1923 – April 23, 1984) was an American modern jazz pianist. Known for his work as a bandleader and during the 1950s with Miles Davis, Garland helped popularize the block chord style of playing in j ...

– piano * Paul Chambers – double bass *

Philly Joe Jones Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones (July 15, 1923 – August 30, 1985) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Early career As a child, Jones appeared as a featured tap dancer on ''The Kiddie Show'' on the Philadelphia radio station WIP. He wa ...

– drumset Newport personnel bonus disc track one * Miles Davis – trumpet *

– tenor saxophone *

–

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contrab ...

– piano * Percy Heath – double bass * Connie Kay – drumset

Production personnel

– producer,

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are des ...

* Frank Laico –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' ''Bitches Brew'', and ...

– mastering * Aram Avakian,

Don Hunstein Donald Robert Hunstein (November 19, 1928 – March 18, 2017) was an American photographer. Life He studied at Washington University in St. Louis, graduating in 1950. Later he served in the United States Air Force in England. He returned to t ...

Dennis Stock Dennis Stock (July 24, 1928 – January 11, 2010) was an American journalist and professional photographer. Life and career Stock was born in New York City, to Fannie and Fred Stock. His father was Swiss and his mother was English. Stock ser ...

– photography * Seth Rothstein – reissue project director *

Bob Belden James Robert Belden (October 31, 1956 – May 20, 2015) was an American saxophonist, arranger, composer, bandleader, and producer. As a composer he may be best known for his Grammy Award winning orchestral jazz recording, ''Black Dahlia'' (2001) ...

Michael Cuscuna Michael Cuscuna (born September 20, 1949 in Stamford, Connecticut, United States) is an American jazz record producer and writer. He is the co-founder of Mosaic Records and a discographer of Blue Note Records. Cuscuna played drums, saxophone and ...

– reissue producers * Ray Moore – reissue engineer * Mark Wilder – reissue engineering and mastering * Randall Martin – reissue design * Howard Fritzson – reissue art director * Bob Blumenthal – reissue liner notes

Notes

References

* Nisenson, E. ''Round About Midnight – A Portrait Of Miles Davis''. Da Capo Press, 2nd ed., 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Round About Midnight 1957 albums Miles Davis albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by George Avakian Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio Albums produced by Michael Cuscuna Album covers by S. Neil Fujita Instrumental albums