Miles Davis – Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud (Magenta Vinyl)

‘Ascenseur pour l’échafaud’ is an album by jazz musician Miles Davis. It was recorded in 1957 and features the musical cues for the 1958 Louis Malle film Ascenseur pour l’échafaud. Jean-Paul Rappeneau, a jazz fan and Malle’s assistant at the time, suggested asking Miles Davis to create the film’s soundtrack – possibly inspired by the Modern Jazz Quartet’s recording for Roger Vadim’s Sait-on jamais released a few months earlier in 1957. The band improvised without any precomposed theme, while edited loops of the musically relevant film sequences were projected in the background. In America it was released as side one of the album ‘Jazz Track’ and received a 1960 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance, Solo or Small Group.