Miles Davis Round About Midnight

In 1955, after a hard battle against addiction Miles Davis appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival as a sign of his recovery and return to the unique and brilliant sound that he always had. He performed with Monk on one of his greatest tunes (Round about Midnight), and by that time Columbia Records just signed Miles. One year later, the Round about Midnight album was released and set the start point of great music production of Miles Quintet with that label, until 1959 in which they recorded their last work with them (Kind of Blue). Later on, in 2005 Sony reissued the album for compact disc in a special package edition. The difference in this edition includes bonus studio takes and the duet that Miles made with Monk at Newport, however, for this essay porpouses I will refer just to the 1956 album. The album was recorded at the Columbia Studio D in New York City. Miles Davis Quintet was put together mostly by the drummer Philly Joe Jones so the personel in this album featured John Coltrane (tenor sax), Red Gardland (piano), Paul Chambers (upright bass), Philly Joe Jones ( drums) and of course Miles Davis on the trumpet. Also, as additional personel George Avakjan (Producer), Frank Laico (Sound Engineer), Teo Macero ( Materization), Don Hunstein ( Photography). Also Gil Evans participate as an arrenger. In contrast with other Mile’s albums, several takes where record in this one and then the ones with the best solos where chosen, the cd edition has some live recordings of the same quintet at a Pasadena concert.

This álbum has six tracks, most of them standards played in the style of this particular “all star band”. The first tune is Round about midnight with a new name “ Round Midnight”, originally composed by Monk, Cootie Williams and Bernie Hanighen. Mile’s version of this is worth to have a new name because it sounds so different from Monk´s version. The tune begins with a mute trumpet and the saxophone playing behind long notes in a low register, sort of bass notes, while the drums and the bass move smoothly with the path that Miles creates with his horn. Suddenly the rhythm starts to change when Coltrane takes the solo and the rhythm section swings some more, the ballad now sounds more like the original tune, but Miles comes back and the ending sounds smooth and sweet again they end it with the initial mood.

The next tune its Ah-Leu-Che, Paul Chambers and Joe Jones where just killin’ it, the language it’s pretty different form Round Midnight, the bebop lines are very obvious in this Bird’s tune. After the energy and the up tempo Ah-Leu-Che, they slow it down a little bit in the standard “All of you”, starting again with Mile’s muted trumpet drawing beautiful melodies while Chambers, Jones and Garland perfectly comp his ideas, but suddenly they make a two bar silence while Coltrane starts his solo kind of answering what Miles said before. With the same energy Red Garland takes the solo with fluency and strength ideas, later he will be the one how introduces us the next tune “Bye Bye Blackbird”, a tune that has one of the sweetest melodies I ever heard, it seems that it was written for Mile’s trumpet, like he was just holding the horn and it was talking by itself. Then the band pushes the throttle again with Tad Dameron’s tune Tadd’s Delight where they really swing and talk with each other. At last but not least this amazing quintet performs “Dear Old Stockholm” and almost 8 minute tune where Chambers takes a brilliant solo and Coltrane and Miles close this masterpiece.

Bye Bye Blackbird is by far my favorite tune of the album, I just love when solos are very melodic and I can sing them. This tune is a 32 bar composition in 4/4 with a very tight groove, and lasts 8 minutes. The form is AA(1)BA(2), although each A section is similar, everytime is different, and that gives the tune a really special feel. The intro section is lead by Red Garland, also Paul Chamber and Jo Jones comping behind, then Miles plays the head with his smooth muted trumpet and right after a short silence the groove changes and Miles takes the first solo, that lasts about 2 minutes and a half. Mile’s solo is very sweet and he always goes back to the melody, his phrases are unexpected but at the same time easy to sing, it’s almost impossible to get lost because he is always approaching the melody, it’s like hearing it while Miles is soloing.

The drums mark the queue an Coltrane starts his solo doing the same thing that Miles, his first phrase is the first phrase of the head with some changes but he keeps the mood that Miles stablished, but as always not to long, because his bebop language and long phrases emerge very quick

...