Other Side of Round Midnight
Bertrand Tavernier's Round Midnight is that rarity: one of a handful of films about jazz generally accepted as bearing some verisimilitude. Not the least reason for this is tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon's portrayal of Dale Turner, an American expatriate jazzman adrift in 1950s Paris. The script combines elements of Lester Young's life with the true story of Bud Powell and Francis Paudras' friendship. And if some of the dialogue is clichéd and leaden, the film, nevertheless, tells a bittersweet story of art and at least temporary redemption.The music selected by Herbie Hancock successfully evokes the period, performed live by a crack band that includes John McLaughlin, Bobby Hutcherson, Pierre Michelot, and Billy Higgins. Dexter Gordon's performance as Turner, for which he received an Academy Award nomination, did not end with the script. His first musical performance, on "As Time Goes By," is slow, drowsy, and limited in range, but as the film progresses, Gordon's playing gains strength, pairing with Wayne Shorter on Powell's jaunty "Una Noche con Francis" and trading fiery licks with Freddie Hubbard in the film's climactic return to New York City. Two mesmerizing pieces not performed on-screen, Kenny Dorham's "Fair Weather" (sung with breathtaking fragility by Chet Baker) and Jimmy Rowles' "The Peacocks," are woven throughout the film, adding immeasurably to the melancholy cinematography.Long before it became de rigeur to release multiple soundtracks for a single film, Columbia allowed Blue Note to release The Other Side of Round Midnight under Gordon's name. The additional album offers more music from the film, including Gordon's sole performance on soprano sax, "Tivoli" - incidentally the only track in the score not played by the same musicians seen in the film - and further outtakes that breathe the same heady atmosphere.--- Steve Smith, JAZZIZ MagazineCopyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.--From Jazziz