Customer Reviews
Another favourite LP by Miles Davis.... - By: Jason Parkes, 03 Jul 2004 
Louis Malle's Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud (Lift to the Scaffold) wasin many ways the definitive Nouvelle Vague crime movie (later relations included Bande a Part & Tirez Sur La Pianiste); it's soundtrack was also definitively 'new wave.' The great Miles Davis, breaking from his earlier collaborations with Charlie Parker & Gil Evans was on a three-week tour of Europe & somehow ended up scoring Malle's moviein a single-mythic night-time session (which very much seemed to mirror the improvised nature of many New Wave works). Jazz would also be key to several other Nouvelle Vague films, famously A Bout de Souffle (1959) & films such as Le Souffle Au Coeur & Lacombe, Lucien- which used the music of Charlie Parker & Django Rheinhardt respectively.
This Miles is the one that appeals most- the earlier incarnations (e.g. The Birth of the Cool) don't appeal that much to me- it was really 'Flamenco Sketches' that blew my mind (& that came out of this kind of sound). Ascenseur Pour l'echafaud could be seen as a precursor to Davis' more ambient works, notably In a Silent Way & Agharta. This 2003 reissue comes with a wonderful cover (featuring snaps of the gorgeous Jeanne Moreau, one of the film's stars, hanging out with Miles) & great sleevenotes. The original 10-track soundtrack LP is present & remastered; while tracks 11-26 takein a wealth of outtakes: this is certainly great value!
As a previous review has noted, this LP seems very much overlookedin the Miles-canon & along with Kind of Blue (1959) it probably represents the best introduction to the many joys of Miles Davis. To me this sounds like the kind of music you should play on endless sunday mornings as Jeanne Moreau or Jean Seberg flip between feminine & masculine & you smoke Gitane endlessly...
Miles' Hidden Gem - By: , 26 Feb 2002 Often overlooked (partly) because it has not been availablein many High Street shops, L'ascenseur catches Milesin yet another defining moment during a short stayin Paris. Free flowing music, composed on the spot whilst seeing the movie.
Much more soberin its arrangements, this music score is great jazz - much less boppy & much less orchestrated than much of his previous works. Certainly a "must have" for any Miles fan & a good buy for any newcomer to jazz.
