'Round About Midnight

WHAT NYMITH SAYS:

'Round About Midnight was Miles Davis' first record on the Columbia label and his first with a then-unknown (and still extremely restrained) John Coltrane. It's a landmark jazz album and, like Time Out, a rewarding and melodic listen for jazz novices. The important thing is the atmosphere, becoming Chet Baker's only rival at capitalizing on nocturnal moods. If you don't play this album in the evening you're doing it a disservice.

The highest of the highlights is 'Round Midnight,' played with a muted trumpet and conjuring a mood so dusky and romantic that I dare say it's unrivalled. Oddly the moment that most impresses me is at 2:40 into the song, where the pace abruptly picks up and ebbs back into the flow without ever disrupting it. They also deliver a take on Cole Porter's 'All of You' that perfectly conveys the sweetness of the tune and gives the melody far more room and respect than is expected of a bop ensemble. Among instrumental renditions this is a strong candidate for the "definitive" tag.

'Bye Bye Blackbird' is the longest track and has a curious set of solos to consider: Davis sticks to the melody and offers more delicate trumpetwork and Red Garland's piano solo has a lightly swinging lilt that forms a perfect response. Both of them clearly modulated their solos to fit the tone of the song. Coltrane is the odd one out, as he steps in between them and (to quote the AllMusic Guide) "smatters notes quickly all through the melodic body of the tune." It sounds like he's playing to something in his head that doesn't have much to do with 'Bye Bye Blackbird' as such. Fans admire this technique but I don't think it's a good fit here. It works much better on the looser framework of 'Dear Old Stockholm,' a fine conclusion to the record even though something like a third of the song is given over to the bass player (Paul Chambers, who previously contributed to The Toshiko Trio and sounds a little more inspired on this outing).

Really, everything works as long as Davis and the group are keeping their cool. Where they somewhat fail to convince is as a hot ensemble. 'Ah-Leu-Cha' disrupts the elegant flow of the album without containing enough energy to compensate. Or perhaps it just "sonically" doesn't belong, as it dates to an earlier session (1955) than the other material and jumped out at me even before I read the wiki. It is 'Round About Midnight's only express inconsistency and not worth docking points over. The album is awesome to behold, deserving of its reputation even to a recent convert to jazz and an essential listen. I sing its praises because it is very rare for one of these jazz albums to "get" me after only a couple of listens. Everything from Hamilton to Mingus has taken intense bouts of concentration and intellectual battles to come to love so 'Round About Midnight stands apart and I wish to emphasize that.

WHAT TICHARU SAYS:

Miles had taste. At least that's the impression I get from this record. The Album has focus and direction which comes very close to working. His new label probably rushed things a bit. If they would have given him a bigger budget, a few more sessions and maybe a dusky sax player this album would have been... well, no sense going on about would could have been.

What it is? It's got a great atmosphere but it goes on too long. The shortish fast paced Ah-Leu-Cha is out of place. John Coltrane is out of place. But it is still a great record.

Sounds more like damnation with faint praise Ticharu!

OK, well I'm not a fan of trumpets and saxophones. They sound generally annoying to me. It's a personal thing. I can appreciate when someone plays the thing well. I don't think Miles played the thing well. I think he played it with style. Great style. Coltrane, not so much, or what style that is I just find annoying. More annoying than most. But it's still a great record.

Will I be listening to 'Round About Midnight in the regular rotation? No, probably not.

Can I recommend 'Round About Midnight? Oh yeah, knock yourself out.

Cover Critique: An amazing album cover, not quite as important as what Martin Denny did for the creation of Exotica but a step in the right direction. It uses the same technique as most 50s album covers - snap a photo of the artist and his instrument, run a filter, choose a font, go home. This time round someone knew quite well what they were doing and as an added bonus, what you see in the photograph perfectly matches what's on the record (unlike the iconic Elvis cover). This is the cool jazz king complete with veiled eyes and bored slouch. An enigma first and foremost. Doesn't it make you wonder what kind of jazz he represents? It intrigues and it would also look good hanging on a wall or propped in a corner if you're lucky enough to have the vinyl. Five stars without a doubt. Nymith

You know what you get with this album! A dude with a trumpet wearing shades in the dark... bound to be cool. Ticharu