'Round Midnight ...
En ce dernier jour de l'année 2006, un morceau de circonstance avec un standard du jazz 'Round midnight, interprété par le Miles Davis Quintet ( Miles Davis à la trompette, John Coltrane au tenor sax, Red Garland au piano, Paul Chambers à la contrebasse, Philly Joe Jones à la batterie).
Ce titre écrit par Thelonius Monk et Cootie Williams est devenu un standard du jazz quand Cootie Williams, puis Dizzy Gillepsie l'ont enregistré (une décennie avant Miles Davis).
Mais alors pourquoi ce titre est-il si profondément ancré dans la discographie de Miles Davis ? Je préfère reprendre ces quelques phrases de George Avakian (lequel a fait signer Miles Davis chez Columbia dans les années 1950) et de Bob Blumenthal, qui parlent mieux de ce nouveau son et de ce quintette de rêve !
"It ('Round about midnight) is also the piece which Miles played at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955 with such effect that it started people asking each other where Miles had been lately. (it turned out he had been around, but nobody had been listening). Its reflective changes are a perfect vehicle for Miles' bluest mood, and it bids fair to acquire permanent association with him in the jazz literature ".
George Arakian
Mais également la présence de John Coltrane dans ce quintette de rêve, alors que Miles Davis lui aurait préféré Sonny Rollins ( qui soignait son problème d'addiction à la drogue) ou bien Cannonball Adderley (qui avait un engagement en Floride). Quant à John Gilmore, après quelques essais, il ne correspondait pas à ce que Miles Davis attendait.
" Davis' knowledge of the saxophonist centered around a session held several years earlier, in which Coltrane had been clearly outclassed by Rollins. "I wasn't excited", Davis admits in his autobiography, yet, in the next breath, he reports that "Faster than I could imagine, the music that we we were playing together was just unbelievable." Davis was fascinated by Coltrane's developing conception, and recognized that his approach to the tenor provided an ideal contrast to Davis' own playing. For his part, Coltrane considered Davis a musical pioneer and appreciated the freedom inherent in his boss' evolving approach to bandleading."
" 'Round about midnight is a primary case in point, second only perhaps to Kind of Blue as a program of music, and even more amazing in that it was produced in three sessions spread over eleven months. It captures the blend of jazz originals and pop standards that made the Davis Quintet's repertoire so influential (...) allows Davis to display his gorgeous Harmon-muted sound ..) and presents all of the music in a sequence that varies moods and textures."
Blumenthal, Octobre 2000
Bon ... et puis maintenant, avant d'aller faire la fête, asseyez vous confortablement et écoutez ce morceau en cliquant Ici