Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud

Product Description:

Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); Barney Wilen (tenor saxophone); Rene Urtreger (piano); Pierre Michelot (bass); Kenny Clarke (drums).

Recorded at Poste Parisien, Paris, France on December 4-5, 1957.

Miles Davis' moody, evocative music for the Louis Malle movie (translation: THE LIFT TO THE SCAFFOLD) comes down to us in two different forms on this recent reissue. There is a chronological sketch pad of tracks which didn't appear in the original release, or appeared in altered form, and tracks 16-26, which comprise the body of the original release, complete with the odd dollop of post-production echo ("Generique") to italicize the film's dramatic content.

Recorded on December 4-5, 1957, the music for ASCENSEUR POUR L'ECHAFAUD has an elegant, romantic air to it. Harmonically it is fairly simple, quite unlike many of the tunes Davis was then recording for Prestige and Columbia back in the States. In the company of such French jazzmen as Pierre Michelot and tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen, ASCENSEUR POUR L'ECHAFUAD is something of a throwback to the feel of Miles' early '50s Blue Note recordings with drummer Kenny Clarke. Rarely has Miles' open tone been more poignant, and that bittersweet quality probably owes something to Miles' ongoing affair with the film's leading lady, Jeanne Moreau.

Selections such as "Diner Au Motel" and "Sur L'Autoroute" (featuring Kenny Clarke's incendiary brush work) find Miles and company blowing in a brisk groove, and Wilen proves a coy melodic foil. "Julien Dans L'Ascenseur" features Miles' lovely muted horn bathed in film noir echo, while "Au Bar Du Petite Bac" is a bluesy reprise of the main themes, as Miles and Wilen toss weightless phrases back and forth.