Customer Reviews

Lift to the Scaffold (Reis) (Rstr) (Dig)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I kept this baby on 'repeat' all last night and it was the perfect companion. For all the haters who quibble about the 16 (supposedly missing) tracks here's a thought; some of us like works the way the artist originally concieved them not the excessive, remastered editions with superflous material added to simply fill out the running time on a CD. This is simply gorgeous music that embraces the spirit of brevity while living and breathing totally in the moment. An unjustly forgotten and underrated classic. Essential.

Verve has really been talking about their sole Miles Davis release lately, especially because the film (under the title Elevator to the Gallows) was released on DVD by no less than Criterion. I thought that when they got around to re-mastering this CD, they'd do a good job. Instead, they reissued the original 10-track LP, stripping the CD of 16 bonus tracks. This is an abomination; Miles and Louis Malle deserve more.

This CD does not have 26 tracks; it only has the first 10. (I'm not sure why Verve would go to the trouble to release a version of this excellent CD and not provide all the tracks that have been released on previous versions.)

I fully Recommend this Verve release......as the sound quality is the best this release has had on CD....there's a wonderful three dimensional depth to the sonic 'image'...no tape hiss and minimal echo....perfection!

But buyer beware - there aren't 26 tracks as the listing states....just 10, with a running time of a little over 26 mins!
It's still recommended...but Amazon need to take action and correctly amend the description.

When you read about Miles's best works, you never hear mention of this gem. That is unfortunate, because this is one of his finest moments. Miles Davis is so innovative, even when he is not trying to be, that when he recorded this record in two days time he unintentionally set the tone for all film noir soundtracks to this day. It is no coincidence that every noir soundtrack that would follow (from Taxi Driver to Mulholland Drive) would pay tribute to every element this work is made of--slow minor key bass lines, sparse piano, and heavily echoed and piercing trumpet.

Why not five stars? It is a soundtrack afterall and there a couple of throwaways like Sul L'Autoroute. But everything else is dark and beautiful. Undoubtedly, the finest track on the record is the opener Generique. But the rest of this record still holds its own in its hauntingly unique way. To me, this may very well be my favorite Miles record.

If you are a Miles fan do yourself a favor and buy this record. There is remastered cd that followed this which is made up of alternate takes of these songs. If you must have those alternate takes then buy all means purchase that version. But believe me, buy owning just these ten tracks you will be missing nothing!

This recording session from the night of 4-5 December 1957 is one of a very few Miles Davis ever composed in Europe for a European project, in this case the soundtrack to Louis Malle's film noir `Ascenseur pour l'Echafaud' (literally `Elevator to the gallows'). The film was a dark and ironic tale with a convoluted plot involving a planned murder last thing on a Friday afternoon, staged to look like suicide, following which the scheming murderer gets stuck in the building's elevator whilst leaving, as the electricity shuts off for the weekend. The original album cover showed a monochrome still from the movie: main protagonist French actress Jeanne Moreau in a classic and arresting pose.

Louis Malle was a great fan of Miles' music and asked him personally to compose and record the film's score: Miles was inspired and delighted. Recorded in one night-time session in an atmospheric old building in Paris to inspire the mood, Miles was joined by Barney Wilen on tenor sax, Rene Urtreger on piano, Pierre Michelot on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums, to sublime result. It's super-cool night-time jazz at its very best, in the loose modal style shortly to characterise Miles' revolutionary `Kind of Blue' period, with numbers mainly slow, dark and atmospheric and a few lighter pieces, spiced with a couple faster and more up-tempo for the movie's scenes of chase and movement. The predominant note is however slow and midnight-moody, perfect dinner-party background music of impeccable taste and ultra-cool; intelligent and thoughtful, in style reminiscent of `In a Silent Way'.

This re-mastered CD is stripped down to contain only the original 10 final cuts from the movie soundtrack: the 16 additional tracks from the original album release - alternative takes for several pieces - are missing. So you need to decide if the supposed improvement in sound quality from `re-mastering' really justifies sacrificing those 16 extra tracks from the original CD. If you're a completist, maybe the answer is `yes.' If you're pragmatic, it's going to be `no.'

The music however remains a fine example of Miles at his very best, from one of his most productive and innovative periods. Spiced with an unusual, dark and sophisticated European flavour, `Ascenseur' is definitely one of his top ten recordings.

This music was composed to fit the movie; it's a beautiful movie to watch and an excellent soundtrack on its own. If you like Miles Davis, you should own this.

Music from the film 'Elevator To The Gallows', available for TOO MANY years as an OOP Columbia LP, now available on CD. Miles composed this on-the-spot while working with the director of the film. The film is highly recommended, and the soundtrack is a must-have for Miles fans. If you want some '58 Miles and the 'Kind Of Blue' line-up, and a good portion of this soundtrack, check out 'Jazz Track', finally out on CD. The intro by Bill Evans to 'On Green Dolphin Street' is worth the cost of the disc alone. Miles at his best, with, in my opinion, his BEST rhythm section.

Scene: Poste Parisien recording studio, 1957. Nighttime interior. The actress Jeanne Moreau sips from a glass and chats with director Louis Malle. Lights dim. A noisy film projector rattles, and a screen across the room shows images in noir et blanc, rough cuts from a film in the making. Looking through the glass of an adjacent sound booth is Miles Davis. He licks his lips and nods to the four other musicians in the session, who will join him in improvising the cinematic soundtrack while they watch the movie scenes.

In the flicker of the projector's light, the band breathes to life, slower than a heartbeat. Miles, staring at the screen, erupts into a lonely, haunting melody that soars above the film imagery, then swoops down to intermingle with the characters' tangled emotions. Kenny Clarke puts his brushes to work, scraping quietly across drumheads, and Pierre Michelot joins in on upright bass, the strings echoing in the darkness of its hollow wooden cavity.

Later in the session, a more frenetic piece unfolds. Miles has been having a problem with his lip. A piece of skin breaks loose and sticks to the mouthpiece of his trumpet. The airflow is altered slightly, creating a slight rasp in Miles' tone. It works, and the cut is used in the soundtrack of "Ascenseur pour l'échafaud" (Elevator to the Gallows). The film and soundtrack are released in 1958. The sound recording, while not well-known, often becomes a favorite of Miles fans who later discover it and are seduced by its moody tenor. And for good reason. It's kinda bleu, with some bop interludes. It works. It'll make you want more.

This is my favorite Miles CD. The music is haunting and very sensual. I play it often, especially when creating, and I recommend it highly to all Miles fans, especially those who like the introspective tunes that are more melodic, less progressive.