Ascenseur Pour L'Échafaud (Lift To The Scaffold)
One of Miles Davis' best LP's! Jazz and film noir seem to have been made for each other....

Ascenseur Pour L'Échafaud (Lift To The Scaffold)

Miles Davis

€ 36,95
  • 2 x LP
Label
Music On Vinyl
PICK-UP AT SHOP / FREE SHIPPING FOR ORDERS WITHIN BELGIUM AND EXCEEDING €100 (FYI: we notice delays at Bpost which are out of our hands, if you want to be a 100% sure about delivery date, best choose pick-up) / Shipping costs are dependent on various factors and are calculated in your shopping cart. Add this item to your cart to see the shipping cost. Or pick up your order at our store in Ghent.

Description

Jazz and film noir are perfect bedfellows, as evidenced by the soundtrack of Louis Malle's Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud (Lift to the Scaffold). This dark and seductive tale is wonderfully accentuated by the late-'50s cool or bop music of Miles Davis, played with French jazzmen -- bassist Pierre Michelot, pianist René Urtreger, and tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen -- and American expatriate drummer Kenny Clarke. 

This recording evokes the sensual nature of a mysterious chanteuse and the contrasting scurrying rat race lifestyle of the times, when the popularity of the automobile, cigarettes, and the late-night bar scene were central figures. Davis had seen a screening of the movie prior to his making of this music, and knew exactly how to portray the smoky hazed or frantic scenes though sonic imagery, dictated by the trumpeter mainly in D-minor and C-seventh chords. Michelot is as important a figure as the trumpeter because he sets the tone, as on the stalking "Visite du Vigile." 

While the mood of the soundtrack is generally dour and somber, the group collectively picks up the pace exponentially on "Diner au Motel." At times the distinctive Davis trumpet style is echoed into dire straits or death wish motifs, as on "Generique" or "L'Assassinat de Carala," respectively. Clarke is his usual marvelous self, and listeners should pay close attention to the able Urtreger, by no means a virtuoso but a capable and flexible accompanist. 

This recording can stand proudly alongside Duke Ellington's music from Anatomy of a Murder and the soundtrack of Play Misty for Me as great achievements of artistic excellence in fusing dramatic scenes with equally compelling modern jazz music.

Tracklist

A

  • 1.Générique
  • 2.L'Assassinat De Carala
  • 3.Sur L'Autoroute
  • 4.Julien Dans L'Ascenseur

B

  • 1.Dîner Au Motel
  • 2.Évasion De Julien
  • 3.Visite Du Vigile
  • 4.Au Bar Du Petit Bac
  • 5.Chez Le Photographe Du Motel

C

  • 1.Nuit Sur Les Champs-Élysées (Take 1)
  • 2.Nuit Sur Les Champs-Élysées (Take 2)
  • 3.Nuit Sur Les Champs-Élysées (Take 3)
  • 4.Nuit Sur Les Champs-Élysées (Florence Sur Les Champs-Élysées)
  • 5.Assassinat (take 1) (Visite Du Vigile)
  • 6.Assassinat (take 2) (Julien Dans L'ascenseur)
  • 7.Assassinat (take 2) (l'Assassinat De Carala)
  • 8.Motel (Dîner Au Motel)

D

  • 1.Final (take 1)
  • 2.Final (take 2)
  • 3.Final (take 3) (Chez Le Photographe Du Motel)
  • 4.Ascenseur (Évasion De Julien)
  • 5.Le Petit Bal (take 1)
  • 6.Le Petit Bal (take 2) (Au Bar Du Petit Bac)
  • 7.Sequence Voiture (take 1)
  • 8.Sequence Voiture (take 2) (Sur L'autoroute)

Videos

More by Miles Davis

You might also like

Shopping bag