NPR 100: Round Midnight

Music critic Tom Moon has the story on Round Midnight, by Thelonious Monk. It's part of the NPR 100, our series on the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. Monk probably composed Round Midnight in 1938, though no one knows for sure. It was early in his career, when he was writing in relative obscurity. But Monk soon became known as a great jazz innovator, one of a small group of musicians who were part of the bebop revolution of the 1940s. His piano playing and compositions were challenging and inspiring to peers like Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane. He was known for angular melodies, with odd stops and starts, and clusters of notes. Round Midnight is a ballad, tender and haunting, capturing that "last call" feeling late into the evening, with a sense of solitude, sadness, and reverie. We hear from one of Monk's peers, pianist Herbie Hancock, and one of Monk's proteges, pianist Fred Hersch, who released a CD of Monk's pieces just a few years ago. For more information on the series, check out NPR 100, at www.npr.org/programs/specials/vote/list100.html.