So “‘Round Midnight” truly makes a fascinating case study in the collaborative process behind some jazz composition.
The history of the “‘Round Midnight” arrangement is discussed in depth, with music examples, on pages 25-28 and 81-84 of Barry Kernfeld’s What to Listen For in Jazz. Evans certainly had a close association with Miles, but the “‘Round Midnight” arrangement does not seem to have been a part of that. That seems to have originated from an error on a 1973 LP, stating that the 1956 version had been featured Evans and his orchestra. So it’s odd that one sometimes reads that the 1956 version was arranged by Gil Evans. But in later recordings, Monk often uses both the intro and the coda, even in solo piano renditions. 1947, uses Gillespie’s intro but nothing else from that arrangement. Monk’s own first commercial recording of “‘Round Midnight,” recorded for Blue Note in Nov. Just after Monk’s short solo at 4:16, there is a double-time fanfare interlude from the band that remained a part of the piece, and a long coda at 6:15.
And as Kelley explains, Williams added an out-of-character, Hollywood-ish interlude for the song’s first recording in ‘44, justifying his co-composer credit.īy July 1946, when the first Gillespie big band was recorded privately at the Spotlite Club in Manhattan with Monk himself at the piano, other parts of his arrangement are in place (reportedly written out for the larger group by Gillespie’s friend Gil Fuller). Williams continued to use a short version of “‘Round Midnight” as his band’s theme, both in performance and on the radio, through at least 1947. (Either Guy or Powell might have hipped Williams to the tune Williams had already recorded “Epistrophy” in 1942, with Guy in the band.) 22, 1944, with Monk’s good friend Bud Powell as his band’s regular pianist, and Joe Guy, who worked with Monk at Minton’s, on trumpet. Trumpeter Cootie Williams made the first recording of the song on Aug. And I believe, though I haven’t seen the label, that “Around” was used on a Milt Jackson recording of the piece for Dee Gee (Dizzy Gillespie’s label) in 1951, six years before the Davis album. Monk occasionally referred to it by that name (for example, in a French interview published in 1963). Kelley notes that “About” was used when the piece was registered for copyright in 1944. In his definitive Monk biography, Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, Robin D.G. According to Wikipedia, this has led some to mistakenly add the word “About.” But it appears that “‘Round About Midnight” is not a mistake, but rather a legitimate alternate title. To start at the beginning, what’s the name of this song? You’ve seen it as “‘Round Midnight” and as “‘Round About Midnight.” Miles Davis has an album by the latter name, which includes the song listed by the former. (There’s no listing of these recordings, so we can’t verify the exact number.) And it’s far from the most recorded song, period - it can’t compete with something like Gershwin’s “Summertime,” which has supposedly been recorded more than 30,000 times. But it wouldn’t come out on top if you include the blues, because “St. The website asserts that “‘Round Midnight” is the most recorded piece written by a jazz musician, and that might be true. Monk, likes to say that it’s “the most recorded song.” That’s not the case, but the song’s recordings are well up there: according to the index of Tom Lord’s master jazz discography, it’s been recorded 1,780 times to date! (Twenty-three of those were under the name “‘Round About Midnight,” of which more below.) And the number will continue to rise 280 of those recordings were made since 2010. It’s certainly Monk’s “greatest hit.” Monk’s son, drummer and bandleader T.S. In honor of their joint centennial, here’s a heap of info about Monk’s “‘Round Midnight,” and the role that Dizzy played in shaping its arrangement. Two of the founders of modern jazz, Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie, were born within two weeks of each other in 1917.
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