Originally bought this album in my early twenties. It had a brown sleeve. French sleeve-notes. £1.99. Bargain bin. Had no clue what it sounded like; needed to buy something, hear something new. It was all I could afford.
Had hoped there would be something danceable, a track I could give to my DJ - I was starting a jazz night. There wasn’t. But it was beautiful. A pared-down Kind Of Blue; soulful and minimal.
It became a kind of guilty pleasure.; Miles sounding unlike anything he’d ever done before or after. Miles playing with French musicians. Miles on a bargain-bin LP.
I was on the phone to jazz DJ legend Paul Murphy, one day. In the background I could hear this piece of music.
You have that Miles album, too. I said. Turns out this rare LP had cult status among jazz heads. Nominated for a Grammy in 1960.
This footage is indeed the real deal. Early December 1957, Miles, in Paris, recording the soundtrack to Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud. Invited by director Louis Malle, he assembled four unrehearsed musicians to improvise over themes he'd prepared for the score. They played in front of a screen while Malle projected the relevant scenes.
I met French filmmaker Louis Malle through Juliette Greco. He told me he had always loved my music and that he wanted me to write the musical score for his new film, Ascenseur pour l’echafaud. I agreed to do it and it was a great learning experience, because I had never written a music score for a film before. I would look at the rushes of the film and get musical ideas to write down. Since it was about a murder and was supposed to be a suspense movie, I used this old, gloomy, dark building where I had the musicians play. I thought it would give the music atmosphere, and it did. Miles Davis to Quincy Troupe.
