Miles Davis first album for Columbia Records in 1957 takes its name from the famous Thelonious Monk composition and is considered one of the great Jazz albums of all time, representing the best of Hard Bop Jazz genre and the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration. With John Coltrane in the famous Quintet, it sounds amazing on this Audiophile remaster from Original Analog Master Tapes.

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Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Miles Davis Catalog Audiophile Restoration Series

Ultimate sound quality for some of the best music ever recorded!

• Limited Edition
• Numbered Editon
• 180 Gram High Definition Vinyl pressed at RTI USA
• Mastering on MFSL Gain 2 Ultra Analog System
• Mastered by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
• Mastered from the Original Mono Master Tapes
• Cut by Krieg Wunderlich and Shawn Britton
• Special Static Free & Dust Free Inner Sleeves
• Deluxe heavy duty cover

1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 64 to analog console to lathe

Miles Davis’ first album for Columbia, ‘Round About Midnight, represents both the beginning of a three-plus-decade relationship with the famed label as well as the start of an extended collaboration with then-unknown saxophonist John Coltrane. As one of the era’s only complete start-to-finish full-length LPs, the 1957 set stands as a hard-bop benchmark—a summation of the styles that came before its creation, an immersion into the period’s cutting-edge strains, and a hint of the rivoluse modalism that would follow.

Part of Mobile Fidelity’s Miles Davis catalog restoration series, ‘Round About Midnight now resonates with a physical palpability and emotional heft never before experienced. Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI, this unsurpassed 180g LP edition traces the individual paths each musician takes in contributing to the whole, whether it’s pianist Red Garland’s left hand spinning actinoid chords or Coltrane infusing a tune with harmony-defying fills that suggest arabesque patterns. Recorded at three separate sessions, the music has never sounded so cohesive, immediate, or involving.

Historically, few jazz records claim the significance boasted by ‘Round About Midnight.  The album’s creation—and the assembly of Davis’ quintet, which also includes Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones—stems from the headliner’s rousing rendition of the title-inspired track, “’Round Midnight,” a Thelonious Monk standard, at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival. Stunning the audience with an interpretation that witnessed him personalize the composition with a brooding tone made possible via employment of his soon-to-be-trademark Harmon mute, Davis redefined perspective and possibility, taking ownership of the ballad as his own, and further improving upon its reach in the studio. It wasn’t the composer’s only surprise.

'Round About Midnight thrives due to diversity and consistency, a rare combination epitomized by the first-rate selection and astonishing performance of pensive ballads, bebop classics, pop standards, and folk pieces. Witness the counterpoint exchanges during “Ah-Leu-Cha” and its Dixieland shades. Soak up the progressive drama and swinging tempos on “All of You” and “Bye Bye Blackbird.” Delight in the mélange of latticed textures and schematic moods throughout the sequence, here presented in gorgeous fidelity, zeroing in on Davis’ warm, plush, rich, and close-up trumpet timbres and how, by playing his instrument right near the microphone, he infuses the arrangements with the sort of daring intimacy embraced by two lovers.

Tension, suggestiveness, calm, mystery, nostalgia: All here. Gather now, ‘Round About Midnight. Slip on a pair of shades, draw the curtains, slouch into a chair, and light a cigarette. This is Miles and Co. at their best. Hipness personified.

Musicians:

Miles Davis, trumpet
John Coltrane, tenor sax
Red Garland, piano
Paul Chambers, bass
Philly Joe Jones, drums

Track Listing:

1. ‘Round Midnight
2. Ah-Leu-Cha
3. All of You
4. Bye Bye Blackbird
5. Tadd’s Delight
6. Dear Old Stockholm

Click here to read the review from the Vinyl Gourmet Blog

Vinyl Gourmet Rated 9/10 for Music, 9/10 for Sound and 9/10 for Value

"...the MFSL really shines making sense of all the instruments and keeping the swing right where it should be, at your feet!"

"...what it does mean is that the new MoFi version is really exceptionally good. This is obviously the result of a very careful production effort, extremely tasteful work and an increased perfect sense of aesthetics, and most of all the ability to know the profound difference between superficial audiophile work that aims at making a sound demonstration and the real audiophile work that aims at making a decisive contribution to shorten the path between listener and musical performance in an effort to increase the emotional bond between them."

"...there is no doubt in my mind, the natural order of things has been kept and MoFi gave us the best reissue ever made of Miles Davis masterpiece, Round About Midnight! I couldn't imagine it sounding any better than this, thank you MoFi!"

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