ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT / EDITION LIMITEE COULEUR CRISTAL CLAIR

Description

In 1955, Miles Davis played a jam session with stars at the Newport Jazz Festival with Thelonious Monk on piano, Gerry Mulligan on baritone saxophone, and Zoot Sims on tenor saxophone. This performance immediately caught the attention of George Avakian from Columbia Records, who was so impressed that he immediately offered Davis a contract if he could form a regular group. The group he then formed went down in history as Davis's "First Great Quintet," consisting of John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Philly Joe Jones on drums, Paul Chambers on bass, and of course Miles himself on trumpet. "Round Midnight" is Miles Davis's first record for Columbia and also the first studio recording of the First Great Quintet. Recording sessions began on October 26, 1955, but the album was not released until 1957, as Davis was still under contract with Prestige at that time. These respective sessions led to Steamin', Workin', Cooking, and Relaxin'; albums that would go down in history as iconic models of late 1950s hard bop. The record consists of a collection of standards and a traditional song ("Dear Old Stockholm") from the 19th century. Notably, it features what could be considered the most well-known versions of "Round Midnight" and "Bye Bye Blackbird" by Thelonious Monk. From the outset, it was clear that Avakian had signed a gold deal, but no one could foresee that it would be this Columbia quintet that would forever change the course of modern jazz with Kind of Blue.