The Evolution of 'Round Midnight

Thelonious Monk

Pianist Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight," justly famous as a jazz standard, but has had many guises since it was first recorded in 1944 - big band, small group, vocal, easy listening, and so on. Today's post examines the genesis of the song and how it evolved in its early years.

It's said that Monk composed the anthem years before it first came to public notice. The song's first recording was not by Monk himself but by trumpeter-bandleader Cootie Williams in 1944. Pianist Bud Powell had brought the tune to Williams' notice, and before it was recorded, Cootie had composed a contrasting theme for the piece and Bernie Hanighen had attached lyrics (which in the event did not appear on record for several years).

Williams' disc starts off with a staccato descending figure that strongly resembles the Dragnet motto, which it predates. Cootie's trumpet enters and the band provides a suitably noir-ish atmosphere, with Eddie De Verteuil's baritone sax important in the mix. The bandleader's contrasting theme is well done, but would not be heard again after this outing.

The Cootie Williams band - I believe Bud Powell is on piano and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson on alto sax. The drummer is Butch Ballard.

Although Cootie Williams' contribution is seldom heard, another trumpeter-bandleader, Dizzy Gillespie, came up with an opening section for "'Round Midnight" that is still used today. This riff was first heard as the coda of Gillespie's 1945 recording of "I Can't Get Started" (it shows up about 2:30 minutes into the piece, which is included in the download).

By 1946, Dizzy had incorporated it at the beginning of his "'Round Midnight" arrangement, as recorded. This came out as one of the earliest issues on the important bop label Dial records, where Gillespie was credited as the arranger. (There was no composer credit.) The ensemble was called "The Tempo Jazz Men featuring 'Gabriel' on trumpet." Later issues would credit the Dizzy Gillespie Jazzmen or All-Stars. Gillespie's record titles the song "'Round About Midnight," perhaps starting the endless confusion about whether its actual name includes "About" or not. His recording features notable contributions by Lucky Thompson on tenor sax and Milt Jackson on vibes. 

Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker

Monk himself finally got his chance to record the piece in late 1947 for Blue Note. That label had been a bastion of traditionalism, but that year it began offering a haven for such boppers as Babs Gonzales, Tadd Dameron and Monk.

Monk led a rough-sounding quintet into the WOR studios, but nonetheless produced what may be the best recording of his most famous composition. This was largely because of the memorable arrangement, which leans into the dissonances, and his unique piano style. Perhaps surprisingly, Monk had incorporated a version of Gillespie's opening into his arrangement - and Blue Note dubbed his composition "'Round About Midnight."

"'Round Midnight" was becoming one of the most frequently performed bop numbers, and as such was taken up by the deity of the movement, short-lived alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. His five-minute workout on the tune comes from an ancient bootleg of a 1951 broadcast that also featured Gillespie and Bud Powell.

Jackie Paris

Bernie Hanighen's apposite lyrics for the song finally received their first recording in 1949, thanks to the brilliant Jackie Paris - whose recording nonetheless was not issued until several years later.

To complete the set, we have a version of the song which turned it into an easy-listening jazz experience, courtesy of arranger Michel Legrand and trumpeter Miles Davis. By this time, Davis had performed the piece in many jazz settings, including a 1955 recording with a quintet that included tenor saxophonist John Coltrane. (Hedging his bets, Miles called the LP "'Round About Midnight" and the song "'Round Midnight.") On his version, Legrand concocted a swirling setting of harp, vibes, winds and piano (Bill Evans!) to cushion Miles' characteristic muted musings.

Legrand and Davis are impressive, but let's return to Monk's sound world to finish off the set. Those who purchased his 1947 "'Round Midnight" were treated to another Monk classic on the flip side - "Well You Needn't." This one is just Thelonious moaning along to his own idiosyncratic pianism backed solely by bassist Gene Ramey and drummer Art Blakey. A memorable record.

The recordings come from 78s on Internet Archive and my own collection. These are in ambient stereo, and generally are vivid reproductions.

The Young Pearl Bailey with Cootie Williams

I don't know when the legendary singer-actor Pearl Bailey began recording, but I believe today's offering is one of the first, if not the first thing she did. The single is from early 1944, part of a series that bandleader-trumpeter Cootie Williams made for Hit Records that year, but apparently the only item that involved Pearlie Mae.

This was a few years before Bailey became a star on Broadway, first in St. Louis Woman (1946), then in Arms and the Girl (1950), House of Flowers (1955) and Hello, Dolly! (1967-9). She was famed for her ability to command the stage, and this presence is more than evident in today's two songs.

Cootie Williams was in the fourth year of his sojourn as a bandleader, after 11 years as a high-profile member of Duke Ellington's band. Cootie was no mean presence himself as a powerful trumpet soloist and occasional singer. He put together quite a band, including on this date alto saxophonist Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (who also sang, although not here), tenor saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and the young pianist Earl "Bud" Powell. Williams and Powell were to make the first recording of Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight" later in 1944. (A celebration of that tune is coming up.)

For this date, Williams and Bailey collaborated on two songs from Danny Kaye's absurd wartime farce Up in Arms. These are numbers by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler - "Tess's Torch Song (I Had a Man)" and "Now I Know" - both introduced by Dinah Shore in the film, playing Kaye's love interest. Dinah is great - and did well with these songs in the market - but Pearl is more convincing in "Tess's Torch Song." (She seems less sure of "Now I Know," and in truth it's a weaker song.) Bailey was ideal for Arlen's music, as she showed in St. Louis Woman, although the best songs in that magnificent score were assigned to Ruby Hill.

The sound on this single is strikingly good as presented in ambient stereo, which benefits both Bailey's voice and Williams' vivid growl trumpet.

Revisiting Bing's 'Waikiki Wedding'

About five years ago I shared picture labels of Bing Crosby issued on a 78 with two songs from his 1937 film Waikiki Wedding. I had found the record in Iceland, about as far away from Hawaii as you can get.

Bing actually recorded four songs from the film, and I have now discovered the two missing picture labels amidst the bounty of Internet Archive. They adorn the 78 of "In a Little Hula Heaven," where Crosby is backed by Jimmy Dorsey's band, and "Sweet Leilani," with Lani McIntire and His Hawaiians. The latter song was the handiwork of bandleader Harry Owens; the other three were by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger.

"Sweet Leilani" was the big hit from the score. Not content to provide the background, McIntire or one of his troupe handle the first few vocal choruses, adding to the charm of the record and providing contrast to Bing's warbling. 

These picture labels were a product of UK Brunswick, which seemingly made "In a Little Hula Heaven" the lead number of the four, with Crosby's name highlighted with the tag "in his hits from Waikiki Wedding." "Hula Heaven" is forgotten, but another song from the score, "Blue Hawaii," lives on, thanks not so much to Bing but to Elvis and his 1961 film of the same name. The Robin-Rainger song was the only one carried over from the earlier film to El's epic. The other big song from the 1961 film was "Can't Help Falling in Love," where Elvis attempted to out-croon Bing.

The download includes all four songs from Bing's film, taken from an LP release because neither the Iceland nor the Internet Archive 78 was in good condition. This time around I have added an ambient effect that provides some air around the mono sound.

Shirley Ross, Bing Crosby, Martha Raye, Bob Burns

An Early Recording of Purcell's Music

Recordings of the music of Henry Purcell (1659-95) date back at least as far as 1909, becoming more frequent if not common in the 1920s. During that decade, important musicians such as Peter Warlock and John Barbirolli took up his cause, and the National Gramophone Society sponsored a number of discs.

Another Purcell proponent was the conductor Anthony Bernard (1891-1963), who had formed the London Chamber Orchestra in 1921. A decade later, he led his ensemble in a recording of Ayres for the Theatre by Purcell. Now, the composer wrote for the theatre for many years, and these "ayres" are unidentified, so I can't tell you more about their identity. But the performances are lively, and seemingly more "modern" - that is, less romantic - than some recordings from decades later.

Anthony Bernard

Bernard not only performed the music of baroque composers such as Purcell, he was a proponent of modern composers. He conducted the first recording of Delius' Sea Drift (although the discs were not attributed to him, likely for contractual reasons). He also led the first recordings of works by Vaughan Williams and Lennox Berkeley.

The conductor is little remembered today, although he recorded well into the stereo era. He is barely mentioned on the London Chamber Orchestra site and it was difficult to find a photo of him.

Purcell wrote much more than theatre music, including sacred and ceremonial works. Examples of these can be found on my other blog - the Funeral Music for Queen Mary and five anthems, and two Birthday Odes for the same regent.

The transfer of this recording is presented in so-called "ambient stereo," which provides a sense of air around the performance, similar to real stereo without the directional cues. It helps to overcome the confined quality that mono recordings can convey.

This recording comes to us from reader Steve Banks, who also donated two other unusual early recordings of baroque music: discs of Corelli's Christmas Concerto in a 1932 or 33 reading from Berlin under Frieder Weissmann, and a Matthew Locke suite in a 1929 performance from the International String Quartet. Thanks once again, Steve!