Don’t call it a comeback. Or do call it a comeback, as that’s essentially what it is. A lot happened to Miles Davis between the Birth of the Cool and 1955. Within that time, Davis struggled with a debilitating heroin addiction that almost destroyed his entire career. After several humiliating incidents caused by his addiction and seeing that his trumpet-playing was beginning to suffer, Davis began to recover, and eventually made a comeback performance at the 1955 Newport Jazz festival, getting him a record deal with Columbia. Davis formed the “first great quintet,” with Red Garland on the piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on the drums. The most noticeable addition, however, is John Coltrane on the tenor saxophone. This is the first time we’ve encountered Coltrane on this journey, and it sure won’t be the last. With this dynamite line-up, Davis started to do something very interesting with his music. You see, Miles Davis had a knack for practically inventing brand-new jazz trends with his recordings. He had developed bebop alongside Charlie Parker. Later on, Birth of the Cool was hugely influential for cool jazz, while Walkin’ was seminal for hard bop. For now, having had his fill of inventing new genres, ‘Round About Midnight sees Davis streamlining and combining many existing styles of jazz into one, archetypical mode. At the time, ‘Round About Midnight was generally well-received by critics but criticized for its lack of innovation; all of it had been heard before. But that’s just the point – ‘Round About Midnight was everything that had been heard before, all at once. It’s an idea so ambitious it’s absurd, but even more absurd is that Davis, on this album and subsequent releases, actually succeeded.

The album opens up with “Round Midnight,” the classic Thelonious Monk tune that put Miles Davis back on the spot at Newport. Davis, by this point, had begun to use the mute on his trumpet as a signature style. Here, Davis plays long, relaxed, legato lines, and you can tell that he’s right up to the microphone. This style is maintained throughout the record – it’s delicate, sensitive, and quite delicious. Whenever Davis plays the horn, the whole rest of the band quiets down so that we can hear each soft, breathy note. On the other hand, John Coltrane’s fast, bombastic saxophone contrasts quite sharply, as exemplified in “Round Midnight,” when he is introduced by several loud, big-band bursts, and accompanied by hard-hitting percussion. Coltrane’s virtuosic soloing works in opposition to Davis’ relaxed playing, and both of them work together to streamline several types of post-bebop jazz. “Round Midnight” is followed by the Charlie Parker standard “Ah-Leu-Cha”, by far the fastest and most bebopy track. It stands out from the rest of the tracks due to Davis’ muteless horn and fast soloing, and it also showcases some of the best duet work done between trumpet and saxophone. “All of Me” and “Bye Bye Blackbird,” two of Davis’ most well-known recordings, are hard-bop renditions of classic swing standards, and exemplify everything wonderful about this record that we’ve already seen in the first track. And I absolutely fall head over heels for Davis’ trumpeting during these two songs. Before listening to these tracks, if you had asked me what a romantic trumpet solo would sound like, I would shrug my shoulders and plead the fifth amendment. Allow me to tell you right here: a romantic trumpet solo sounds like “All of Me” and “Bye Bye Blackbird.” It’s the warmest, fuzziest jazz I’ve ever heard.

While Davis and Coltrane certainly are the highlight performers of the record, I certainly do not want to shortchange Garland, Chambers, and Jones. Red Garland’s piano, often using soft staccato chords to punctuate melody lines, whether playing solo or accompaniment, never ceases to be a treat. Garland’s playing on “Blackbird” is especially delightful – pay attention to it, the way it feels as Davis plays the theme in the beginning. The record contains very few moments for Chambers and Jones to solo – they are almost exclusively the rhythm section accompaniment, but their dexterity in fitting underneath the varying styles of the soloists is more than impressive. “Tadd’s Delight,” is a highlight for the rhythm section, with a tricky theme section that changes time quite frequently. I still can’t quite wrap my head around it, but Chambers and Jones work with it effortlessly.

The record as a whole represents a turning point for Davis musically. Miles Davis was an exceptional talent prior to 1955 (though this record was not released until 1957), but this time period represents his ultimate peak in the eyes of many. For many people who don’t listen to very much jazz, Miles Davis is quite often one of the few – perhaps the only jazz musician they know and listen to. His recordings that appear on ‘Round About Midnight represent the start of momentum that would lead Davis to cross over into mainstream American music in a huge and unheard-of way. The way that this quintet handles these classic standards feels in some ways like a quintessence of jazz, and Davis would continue to follow through on this instinct, soon to cement his place as possibly he most well-known jazz musician of all time.