Round Midnight

When Round Midnight was published, Thelonius Monk was an outsider due to the extravagant harmony and the complexity of his music; he cultivated this image. With this elaborate polyphony, Monk ingeniously managed to translate the Romantic 'midnight piece' into the sphere of expression of jazz. Does the music of the night not really sound tender, seeming to come from afar or surfacing from the depths of dreams? Do brass instruments present a suitable medium for such subtle adjustments of the hearing sensitivity? On their instruments, today's virtuosos even in an ensemble, attain an ease and agility that sweeps away any prejudices about the massive nature of their appearance. They show themselves to be versatile as virtuosos of mimicry, no less appropriate for fairy-like magic than for gloomy abysses and the cutting acrimony of the macabre and horrific.