Customer Reviews

Round About Midnight

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This is Miles Davis' debut with Columbia records, and since 1955, the year in which "Round About Midnight" was released, neither Columbia nor the world of jazz would remain the same. While others point to "Kind of Blue" as his classic, some of Davis' most thrilling work can be found here. On this album, Davis ropes in John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones to form a quintet that would stand as a tremendous force to be reckoned with. "Ah-Leu-Cha" bristles with energy, and it brilliantly shows the interplay between Davis and Coltrane throughout the track. There's also the relaxed cool of "Bye Bye Blackbird" and the uptempo bounce of "Tadd's Delight," which has nice piano work from Red Garland and head-bobbing bass from Paul Chambers. But, of course, the CD's towering moment is the title track, brilliantly adapted by the quintet. It would serve as one of THE greatest pieces of work in Miles' catalogue. I can seriously listen to this CD fifty gazillion times and never tire of it. And that's the way all great albums should be. After each listen, "Round About Midnight" reveals something new that I didn't catch before. This is the remastered version, and while the term "remastered" gets bandied about very casually when marketing releases, I can assure you that the folks at Sony did a great job here. The bass projects more fully, the drums sound crisp, and Davis sounds like he entered the studio last year. Very little of the recording sounds like it was done in the 1950s. The disc also has 4 bonus tracks; my personal favorite is the terrific 7-minute "8 Little Melonae." Those who are new to jazz or Miles Davis should definitely make this historic masterpiece among their first purchases.

This is my personal favorite of Miles' small group records, and his first for Columbia. It's simply a matter of taste whether you prefer the first quintet or the second. Those who tend a little more towards the free jazz choose the second, but I prefer the delicate swing of the earlier one, even though Coltrane was not yet fully formed as a sax player. Still, their rendition of Cole Porter's "All of You" has to be one of Davis' most perfect recordings, where Red Garland's piano block chords work to irresistible effect (as they do on "Bye Bye Blackbird"). Miles told Red that he wanted Ahmad Jamal's style transplanted into his band, and a good argument could be made that it was Garland's swing that set the tone for the direction of the band. At the very least, Miles always turned to Red for suggestions of which standards to play. The other highlight is the downright otherworldly performance of Monk's "Round Midnight" (of which Monk apparently did not approve), where Coltrane shows early signs of breaking through. Not very surprising that it was Coltrane's brief stint with Monk that finally set him loose for good. Also worth noting is a fantastic version of "Dear Old Stockholm" which features an extended and brilliant bass solo by Paul Chambers, who very rarely got any soloing time on Miles' studio records. Great, great music.

'Round About Midnight' is the first album Miles Davis would record during his long tenure at Columbia, and is the beginning of the most prolific and consistentally impressive output in jazz music history. You can see where the level of sophistication and innovation is flourishing in these recordings, even though this is still more or less considered "traditional" jazz. But the improvised lines, and the cool, muted playing are already becoming apparent as a Miles standard. The album opens up with 'Round Midnight', which is a rich and stirring late-night ballad, starting out with Miles' brooding, muted trumpet playing over Paul Chambers' slowly rolling basslines, then changing pace slight with Coltrane's reflective tenor sax smoothing out the edges, and making it into a smoky nightclub classic. Truly a work of art. 'Ah-Leu-Cha' is a throwback to the classic bebop style of jazz, and is more uptempo, with some impressive soloing from Coltrane and Davis. Red Garland's piano work is great here as well, as he manages to keep up with every chord change being thrown at him. 'All of You' is an old pop standard that the quintet plays through easy and relaxed. The same goes for the cool and subdued interpretation of 'Bye Bye Blackbird'. This is one of the best renderings of this old standard that you will find, and Davis varies his playing softly and then brings it back up to higher notes to compilment Coltrane's tenor sax. The musicianship all blends together seamlessly on this song as Garland's excellent piano solo brings Davis back in to close it out with a final sweet, muted refrain; just beautiful. 'Tadd's Delight' is another nice throwback to hard bop, with rollicking drumming from Philly Joe Jones, and more impressive piano playing from Garland. The final song on the original album 'Dear Old Stockholm' is a strange and haunting number, particularly Paul Chambers' long bass solo, which is low enough to get your heart racing. This reissue contains four titles from these sessions that were not featured on the original album, but all of them are slighty subpar in comparison, the only real standout, to me, being the slightly upbeat interpretation of 'Little Melonae', with its interesting arrangements and Davis' cool and perfectly-timed trumpet interjections.

This is one of the essential recordings from Miles Davis' Columbia Years and anyone who is only familiar with the cool and stylish sophistication of 'Kind of Blue' and wants to know where to go next in Miles' HUGE catalog should check this album out. This quintet's musicianship are the perfect compliment to each other and smooths out all the rough edges that had previously marred some of Miles' work prior to this. It is especially interesting to note that this is the only album that was recorded by the quintet who would break up this same year over inner tensions. But the beauty is, they would reform a year later in 1957 with Cannonball Adderly as a sextet, and then would continue on an uphill journey making some of the greatest and most reputed recordings in jazz history.

In 1955, the Miles Davis Quintet recorded their debut album for Columbia Records. This Quintet is one of Miles's finests groups, with Miles Davis on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. Miles Davis proves himself genius on this album because he makes an amazing jazz album in addition to the awesome performances.
It kicks off with the Thelonious Monk standard "Round Midnight", for which the album is named. This is easily the best performance on the album; honestly, it's my favorite version of "Round Midnight". It kicks off as a jazz ballad, where Miles plays a scintillating muted trumpet on the melody and his solo. After Miles's solo, the song becomes a medium swing, and the transition from ballad to medium swing is brilliantly executed. Once it becomes swing, Coltrane does an innovative solo. Then the song returns to its original ballad form as Miles concludes the song. This performance is awesome and alone worth buying the album.
However, the rest of the album holds up brilliantly. After "Round Midnight" comes "Ah-Leu-Cha", which is a Charlie Parker standard, and the Quintet does an amazing version of this song. After Miles and Coltrane, Garland does his first piano solo of the album, and does not disappoint at all.
Another standout on this album is the performance of "Bye Bye Blackbird", with Miles yet again on muted trumpet. He does a gorgeous interpretation of the melody and soothing solos, as does Coltrane. I think this song's main point is that it boasts the best Garland on this album, where Garland does some great blues licks and really hits it home.
The final standout on the original album is the performance of "Dear Old Stockholm", where Paul Chambers does the only bass solo on the original album and is awesome to finish this classic album.
However, the remastered version doesn't end there. There are four bonus tracks on this album, and they are all great. I always embrace bonus tracks as long as they don't overdo the alternate takes, like on "Giant Steps". But, there are no alternate takes here.
Bonus tracks and all, I recommend this to all jazz fans. I think this album is superb and a strong debut on one of jazz's biggest labels. It is also a sign that Miles and Coltrane still had much to show the jazz world.

This record is one of those rare records that you can put on from the first song and to the last and never get bored or want to skip a song.
'Round Midnight is a perfect song, from start to finish. Both Miles and Trane express what they want with gorgeous melodies and tone.
Ah-Leu-Cha is a great rendition of the classic Charlie Parker tune, especially with the intertwining melodies at the beginning.
All of You shows the depth of Miles' Harmon mute, and is the best take of this song I've heard (better than the Blackhawk recording or some of the Plugged Nickel stuff).
Bye Bye Blackbird contains what I think is Miles' best solo ever. His use of the Harmon mute is gorgeous and the entire song is unbelievable. Listen specifically to Philly Joe Jones brush strokes and Garland's comping skills on this one.
Tadd's Delight is a great bop-style tune with one of Coltrane's best solo's on the disc. Jones' drumming is also unbelievable on this track.
Dear Old Stockholm is the baddest jazz track ever. Period. That track is just bad as sh*t, from the first note to the end. And the highlight of this track is Paul's rare extended solo and Coltrane's solo. If there is a "best" song on this album, this is it. And Miles probably put it at the end purposely to make sure every listener knew that his band was the baddest there was and will ever be.
Although there are extras which are great, I'm not going to talk about them because they weren't in the original album (even though Budo is awesome).

If you should get anything out of this album, it should be this: this group was the tightest group there ever was and listening to this album proves it. Everyone is right in time and right on top of the music--no one one this record even though about doing a half-ass job when it came to producing some of the best music ever laid down on record. Enjoy

This is the only album Miles Davis's 1st Great Quintet recorded for Columbia. Unlike the four classic LPs it cut for Prestige around the same time (Cookin', Relaxin', Workin' and Steamin'), which were recorded in two marathon sessions to capture a semi-live feel, 'Round About Midnight has a more polished and relaxed sound. Each approach has its advantages and fans will want all five LPs; the Prestige albums benefit from better sound quality and more spontaneous performances. But this reissue of 'Round About Midnight may be the place to start for several reasons. First, the recordings stretch from the Quintet's first recordings (October 1955) to about a year later, so you can track its progress. Second, at about one hour it contains more music than any of its Prestige counterparts. And third, it contains an absolutely classic rendition of Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight" as arranged by Gil Evans; this performance brilliantly exploits the contrast between the soft lyricism of Davis's trumpet and the rougher playing of budding tenor star John Coltrane. This brilliance is matched or at least approached on each of the next five tracks, including a superb version of "Dear Old Stockholm". Three of the bonus tracks come from the first session the quintet ever recorded, all in the bop style: "Two Bass Hit" (an early feature for Coltrane and recorded more effectively for the Milestones album), "Budo" (also featured on Birth of the Cool), and Jackie McLean's quirky "Little Melonae". Pick up 'Round About Midnight and Cookin', and you'll find out why many considered this quintet to be the best of its time.

Freshly remastered and now with bonus tracks, ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT launched an unmatched three-decade run of musical productivity by Miles Davis for Columbia. The label consistently managed to package Davis' restless musical nature in a manner that resulted in a string of albums that sold well despite the lack of compromise. Perhaps Columbia lucked out that Davis' non-conformity proved to be even more irresistable to many record-buyers as a "friendlier" image might have been. Whatever, the bottom line is the music itself...

Davis' probing muted trumpet is highlighted on the title track, while John Coltrane's tenor sax provides an effective contrast on both the ballads and the uptempo tunes. Somewhat ironically, the song selections here are quite traditional (pop ballads, bop-era cover versions). However, the performances are transitional, leading jazz into an era of heightened modernism without losing sight of the music's building blocks. The quintet is widely considered to be among the elite groups throughout the entire history of jazz. A century from now, listeners will no doubt be echoing these sentiments. Albums such as this simply do not lose their edge, no matter how much time has passed since the original release date. For those of you who have KIND OF BLUE and want to pursue that era of Miles' further, I place this CD and MILESTONES next-in-line.

After going through a lengthy depression period for almost four years, 1954 was sort of a rebuilding year for Miles Davis. But in 1955, the year he put together his great quintet consisting of himself on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums, everything completely clicked. Miles plays strongly throughout this album, so well in fact, that there are very few trumpet performances on record that are both as smooth and proficient as what Miles played on these sessions. In my opinion, Miles only sounds better than this on Milestones, E.S.P., Miles Smiles and Kind Of Blue. John Coltrane, also coming out of drug-related depression, plays beautifully throughout the album, with mind-blowing trills and the tone and style that could only come from him. Of course, nothing powers two great soloists more than a great rhythm section. Red Garland's light-hearted, Ahmad Jamal-influenced soloing and perfect back-up chords are a definite highlight. Paul Chambers keeps the pulse with his precise basslines and creative in-put to the group. Philly Joe Jones is an energetic drummer and comes from the school of "hard" percussionists, he is the spark-plug that keeps the quintet moving in the right direction. On the Monk-penned "'Round Midnight", Miles plays a beautiful, muted solo on this very complicated piece, and when the slow tempo speeds up to andante`, Coltrane takes a great solo full of excellent ideas and sounds. Red Garland supports them with the clock effect after Miles finishes, which is clever. "Ah-Leu-Cha" is a song written by Charlie Parker. Miles recorded the original version of this track with Parker in 1947, although this new version makes the original look like child's play. The arrangement and soloing sounds so much more mature, it makes me wish Bird was still alive to contribute, along with Miles, Coltrane and Garland putting in fascinating solos over the swift-paced tune. "All Of You" is a standard which has Miles playing with the mute again. This was the perfect tune for the quintet to play, and they swing blissfully through the whole song. Garland especially shines with his brilliant octave jumps and clear upper-register playing. Overall, a great group effort. "Bye, Bye Blackbird" is probably the most familiar tune on this album to the average listener, once again a standard, but with Miles playing a long, effortless muted solo. Coltrane swings so easily it appears he could still sound good even if he didn't try to, and Garland's solo is famous and immediately interesting here. Few pianists could bring that same joy and inspiration to that song. "Tadd's Delight" goes back to hard-bop, a tune written by Tadd Dameron, a pianist Miles worked with in the bebop era. All three soloists sound extremely good on the tune, no one outshining the other, working well as a group. The final track is "Dear Old Stockholm", a Swedish tune that Stan Getz made into a jazz song and it became a standard. It features a long bass solo by Paul Chambers near the beginning which is one of the best bass solos I've heard ever. Then Coltrane comes out with his motivated tenor, and Miles picks the song back up and finishes the song and the album.

Overall, if you're into Miles Davis and don't have this album, it's strongly recommended. Albums like these show many different sides of the musician: the technical, the swinging, the soulful, the happy and the sad. In my personal opinion, if Miles and Coltrane hadn't suffered for a while, this album wouldn't have come out as beautifully as it did. It goes beyond just great playing, there's a certain soul that makes the replay value of this album sky-rocket. Miles Davis was an addictive personality, and he displays that here, by making an addictive album. A must-have for anyone who loves music.

Truth be told, I play this album more than "Kind of Blue." Basically, it's the same group and repertory as the earlier Prestige recordings ("Relaxin', "Steamin',", "Working," etc.) but with Columbia production values and a bit more care and focus on Miles' part. The opening title tune is the most vivid and dramatic recorded example of Miles' highly personal sound on the harmon mute. The 2-beat, "danceable" lilt of the Garland-Chambers-Philly Joe rhythm section is realized to perfection on Cole Porter's "All of You," which also features a logical, flawless cadence by Trane at the end of his solo. And Red Garland's solo on "Bye Bye Blackbird" not only motivated me to transcribe it but taught me more about jazz piano than any number of lessons or Aebersold method books. And the Columbia engineers bring to the group a resonance, a balance, an openness not found on any of Miles' earlier recordings. In short, if you limit your Miles' collection to no more than two recordings, this had better be one of them.

I think that "Round About Midnight" has integrity. I have never heard anything that sounds like this. Whenever I walk alone through a quiet night where neonlights flash in a melancoly way I hear this music in my head, especially "Round Midnight". As I'm from Sweden I really like the track "Dear Old Stockholm" and believe it captures the atmosphere of that town. This album is sentimental, but it's sentimentality in a positive sense. Miles trumpet creates magical and beautiful jazz. A wonderful album when you feel like being alone for a while, in solitude.