Miles Davis’ “Flim Score” for Louis Malle

from the Amazon.com Web page for the recording being discussed

Readers with long memories may recall an article I wrote in June of 2017 about the two-CD album Thelonious Monk – Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960. The album was the document of the soundtrack created for Roger Vadim’s 1959 film Les liaisons dangereuses (dangerous liaisons), a setting in contemporary Paris based on Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 epistolary novel of the same title. This was not an “original soundtrack.”

Rather, Monk provided recordings of performances of several of his compositions that had achieved “standards” status: “Rhythm-a-Ning,” “Crepuscule with Nellie,” “Six in One,” “Well, You Needn’t,” “Pannonica,” “Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are,” and “Light Blue.” They were performed with Monk at the piano playing in a quartet he had formed with Charlie Rouse (tenor saxophone), Sam Jones (bass), and Art Taylor (drums), all whom were joined by French saxophonist Barney Willen. All the recordings were made in New York between July 27 and July 29, 1959.

Vadim’s decision to work “modern jazz” into his soundtrack may have been inspired by a 1958 film made by his fellow director Louis Malle. The film was released in the United States with the English title Elevator to the Gallows, and its soundtrack was provided by Miles Davis. However, the creation of that soundtrack was far more interesting, because all of the music was original and it was recorded with Davis in Paris in November of 1957. Willen was a member of his combo, along with pianist René Urtreger and Pierre Michelot on bass. The only other American in the group was the drummer, Kenny Clarke.

In this case none of the music that Davis had previously recorded was appropriated for the score. Instead, the music was provided only after Malle had completed the film. The combo improvised its performance while watching a projection of that final cut.

Elevator to the Gallows was broadcast last night on the Turner Classic Movies channel. I saved the broadcast on my xfinity “cloud” space; and my wife and I watched it this afternoon. The opening remarks suggested that Davis himself had probably seen the film prior to bringing his combo to the recording studio. For that matter, there is a good chance that Davis worked out with Malle the particular scenes in the film where music would be appropriate. Nevertheless, all of that music was improvised, making the result a rather significant milestone (pun intended) in the history of film music.

Ironically, the music itself was never released in the United States. However, PolyGram (which is now part of the Universal Music Group) released a “comprehensive” recording in October of 1990 under the original French title of the film, Ascenseur pour l’échafaud. It includes the eleven tracks that were used in the film, preceded by fifteen tracks of takes that were rejected. In other words the creation of the music itself may have been spontaneous; but a considerable amount of “post hoc judgment” probably when into finalizing the soundtrack itself.

The Amazon.com Product Description describes the music as “something of a throwback to the feel of Miles' early ’50s Blue Note recordings with drummer Kenny Clarke.” I’m not sure I agree. In the Davis chronology the album sits between Miles Ahead and Milestones, and those serious about Davis’ work would probably find both of those albums more “advanced” than his improvised soundtrack. On the other hand Davis knew how to pull out microtonal auxiliary tones when playing at a slow tempo, and those subtle shifts in pitch tend to underscore the combination of tension and inevitability in the film’s plot line. I might even hazard a guess that those qualities of the plot will register even with those listening to the recording that do not know the film itself.