Miles Davis Ascenseur Pour L echafaud (Lift to the Scaffold) ( 180g vinyl LP )

Release date 22-01-2010 ( originally released in 1957-8)

2010 EU reissue ( 180g vinyl LP )

With a romantic sound reminiscent of his early '50s Blue Note recordings Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud is a wonderfully reflective precursor to Davis' landmark release Kind Of Blue which was issued the following year. 

Ascenseur Pour L'échafaudis a 1958 French film directed by Louis Malle. It was released as Lift To The Scaffold in the UK. The film was nothing special, but it did accomplish one thing: it proposed a new ideal of cinematic realism, a new way to look at a woman.

Jean-Paul Rappeneau, a Jazz fan and Malle's assistant at the time, suggested asking Miles Davis to create the film's soundtrack. He showed Davis a screening of the movie, and afterwards Miles knew exactly how to portray the smoky hazed or frantic scenes through sonic imagery.

On December 4 1957, he brought four French Jazzmen (Barney Wilen / tenor saxophone, René Urtreger / piano, Pierre Michelot – bass and Kenny Clarke – drums) to the recording studio "Le Poste Parisien Studio" without having them prepare anything. Davis only gave the musicians a few rudimentary harmonic sequences he had assembled in his hotel room. Eventually Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud has become a great achievement of artistic excellence.

Tracks:
A1 Générique
A2 L'Assasinat De Carala
A3 Sur L'Autoroute
A4 Julien Dans L'Ascenseur
A5 Florence Sur Les Champs-Elysées
A6 Dîner Au Motel
A7 Evasion De Julien
A8 Visite Du Vigile
A9 Au Bar Du Petit Bac
A10 Chez Le Phothographe Du Motel

B1 On Green Dolphin Street
B2 Fran-Dance
B3 Stella By Starlight