Miles Davis

Round About Midnight Miles Davis

Miles Davis' quintet was formed in 1955 and is widely

regarded as one of the greatest combos in jazz history.

Each of its members were individual creative forces

that could have easily been leaders. "Philly Joe and

Red Garland were the same age," explained Miles in

his autobiography, "about three years older than I was.

Coltrane and I were born in the same year, with me

being a little older. Paul Chambers was the baby in

the group, being only twenty, but he was playing like

he had been around forever. And so was Red; he was

giving me that Ahmad Jamal light touch, and a little bit

of Erroll Garner, along with his own shit up in all of that.

So everything was happening." This quintet--like many

other great bands composed of important figures--

didn't last long despite Miles' best attempts to keep it

together. 'Round About Midnight was Miles' first album

for this company, and he titled it after the Thelonious

Monk tune that had earned him such great success

at Newport in 1955. Two songs from the sessions

originally issued on LP compilations have been added

as a bonus.