Miles Davis – Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud (OST) (1957/2013) [HighResAudio FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Miles Davis – Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud (OST) (1957/2013)

FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 1:14:04 minutes | 1.57 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: highresaudio.com | © Universal (France)

Ascenseur pour l’échafaud is an album by jazz musician Miles Davis. It was recorded at Le Poste Parisien Studio in Paris on December 4 and 5, 1957. The album features the musical cues for the 1958 Louis Malle film “Ascenseur pour l’échafaud”.

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:

1. Générique (Bof Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud)
2. L’Assassinat De Carala (Bof Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud)
3. Sur L’Autoroute (Bof Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud)
4. Julien Dans L’Ascenseur (Bof Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud)
5. Florence Sur Les Champs-Élysées (Bof Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud)
6. Dîner Au Motel (Bof Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud)
7. Évasion De Julien (Bof Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud)
8. Visite Du Vigile (Bof Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud)
9. Au Bar Du Petit Bac (Bof Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud)
10. Chez Le Photographe Du Motel (Bof Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud)
11. Nuit Sur Les Champs-Élysées (Take 1)
12. Nuit Sur Les Champs-Élysées (Take 2)
13. Nuit Sur Les Champs-Élysées (Take 3 – Generique)
14. Nuit Sur Les Champs Elysees Florence Sur Les Champs Elysees (Take 4)
15. Assassinat Visite Du Vigile (Take 1)
16. Assassinat Julien Dans L’Ascenceur (Take 2)
17. Assassinat L’Assassinat De Carala (Take 3)
18. Motel (Diner Au Motel)
19. Final (Take1)
20. Final (Take 2)
21. Final (Take 3)
22. Ascenseur (Evasion De Julien)
23. Le Petit Bal (Take 1)
24. Le Petit Bal (Take 2)
25. Séquence Voiture (Take 1)
26. Sequence Voiture Sur L’Autoroute (Take 2)