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Miles Davis “Ascenseur pour l’échafaud” Fontana 60th Anniversary Deluxe 2-CD Edition, cd 1    

BFT 264 1 – Great start, sounds great on a Sunday morning as I get ready to go to teach 4th/5th grade Sunday School.  Organ player reminds me of early Larry Young, with the universal Jimmy Smith influence.  Sax is excellent also.  The cut has a wonderful propulsiveness (ie groove).  This is a must have for me, right out of the gate!  Surely this cut will get ID’d by someone in short order? 2 – Another relaxing cut, though not of the great appeal #1 is to me.   Old-time master (Ben Webster?) on tenor.  Pro-bop rhythm section playing. American sax player with European Rhythm section?  Early-mid 50’s vintage?  Right at the early edge of my jazz listening range. 3 – In my wheelhouse!  Outstanding, and I don’t recognize it at all.  Composition and all solos work!  Not great sound quality, but that is easily overlooked.  Another must have, could end up being an expensive BFT! 4 – The Blues.  Could be one of those 50’s Prestige All-Star sessions arranged by Mal Waldron?  Quite enjoyable, and likely on my shelves somewhere.  Love the rock-solid bass playing.  Paul Chambers? 5 – Really nice clarinet playing!  Familiar composition. Eddie Daniels? 6 -  Sounds like they had a better time recording it than I did listening to it.  Maybe you had to be there… 7 – Very tasteful.  “Jambalaya”, the old Hank Williams composition.   Not really my thing, though both guitarists are clearly talented, and it’s quite listenable, but goes on way too long for me..  Herb Ellis? 8 – Back to more familiar ground for me!   Very fancy arrangement.  Buddy Rich?  First sax solo is really good, but I’m not enamored of the piano solo.  Very busy drummer. 9 – Back in my wheelhouse!   I would assume I have this on the shelves somewhere, and that someone will ID it.  Tenor player and pianist certainly took Trane and McCoy to heart, and are pretty convincing in spirit.  Third “must have” cut out of nine total! 10 – I don’t normally like saxophone quartet stuff, but this is quite lovely. 11 – It’s very “good” but doesn’t grab me at all, maybe too ECM-cerebral-ish for me. 12 – World Music Jazz!  Very repetitive, with just little layers added on each pass through.  I do like the bass player, who has a Charlie Haden-ish sound about him.   Tenor player has lots of licks, but no story to tell.  Trumpet player has more story, less technique, sounds at times in his solo as if he is playing in a different key than the rest of the group.  But he’s interesting.  13 – I like it quite a bit as background, though it sounds like it could be a backing track rather than  a complete performance.  I should know the song, something from old skool R&B, Roberta Flack or something. Thanks for the fine BFT, greatly look forward to the  ID/reveal of cuts 1,3,4,9 and others!

Best track on the LP from which it originates, IMO. All players are Americans (as far as I know).