’Round Midnight is a love letter from director Bertrand Tavernier to the heyday of bebop and to the Black American musicians who found refuge in the smoky underground jazz clubs of 1950s Paris. In a miraculous, sui generis fusion of performer and character that was nominated for an Oscar, legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon plays Dale Turner, a brilliant New York jazz veteran whose music aches with beauty but whose personal life is ravaged by addiction. Searching for a fresh start in Paris, Turner strikes up an unlikely friendship with a struggling single father and ardent jazz fan (François Cluzet) who finds his life transformed as he attempts to help the self-destructive musician. Herbie Hancock’s evocative, Oscar-winning score sets the mood for this definitive jazz film, a bittersweet opus that glows with lived-in, soulful authenticity.
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- New interview with jazz and cultural critic Gary Giddins
- New conversation with music producer Michael Cuscuna and author Maxine Gordon, widow of musician Dexter Gordon
- Before Midnight, a 1986 behind-the-scenes documentary
- Panel discussion from 2014 featuring director Bertrand Tavernier, Michael Cuscuna, Maxine Gordon, and jazz scholar John Szwed, moderated by jazz critic and broadcaster Mark Ruffin
- Performance from 1969 of “Fried Bananas” by Dexter Gordon, directed by Teit Jørgensen
- An essay by scholar Mark Anthony Neal