The album features performances by Hancock, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Tony Williams, vocalist Bobby McFerrin, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, bassist Pierre Michelot, drummer Billy Higgins, guitarist John McLaughlin, trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, vocalist Lonette McKee, and pianist Cedar Walton, most of whom appear in the film.

It won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Score in 1986, beating Ennio Morricone's The Mission and Jerry Goldsmith's Hoosiers, among others.

Additional music recorded during the making of the film was released under Dexter Gordon's name as The Other Side of Round Midnight (1986).

In his review of the score for Hoosiers, Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks.com stated: 'The awarding of the original score Oscar for 1986 to Herbie Hancock for Round Midnight is considered one of the greatest of the many injustices that have befallen nominees for that category.

Ennio Morricone and, to a lesser extent, James Horner were worthy of recognition that year, though Goldsmith's Hoosiers stands in a class of its own because of its immense, counterintuitive impact on the picture.