Jazz and 1950s French movies were a natural fit. Perhaps the most famous jazz-cinema collaboration was Miles Davis's Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud (Elevator to the Gallows), recorded in Paris in December 1957, with Davis (tp), Barney Wilen (ts), Rene Urtreger (p), Pierre Michelot (b) and Kenny Clarke (d). Almost as well known is Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 (Dangerous Affairs 1960), recorded in New York in July 1959 with Charlie Rouse and Barney Wilen (ts), Thelonious Monk (p), Sam Jones (b) and Art Taylor (d). [Photo above of Barney Wilen, Kenny Dorham and Duke Jordan in Paris]
Lesser known is Wilen's soundtrack for Un Témoin Dans la Ville (Witness in the City), recorded in Paris in April 1959. It featured the Barney Wilen Quintet, with Kenny Dorham (tp), Barney Wilen (sop,ts), Duke Jordan (p), Paul Rovere (b) and Kenny Clarke (d). Directed by Édouard Molinaro, the film is about love, murder, revenge and happenstance—a classic French film recipe of the period. Just add shadows.
What's special about the music is the mood. While the Davis and Monk soundtracks are superb, they lack what this one has—the Parisian feel. Both Dorham and Wilen play with a nocturnal melancholy that settles on the score like a fog. Wilen plays smokey and blue on the tenor and soprano saxophones while Dorham has a heartbreaking sound on trumpet, squeezing notes into tight places. Meanwhile Clarke's machine-gun drums create suspense and Jordan's piano, particularly on Final Au Jardin D'acclimatation, unleashes cafe-society drama. [Photo above of Barney Wilen]
The common denominator on all three of these soundtracks is Wilen, who had a tender but aggressive technique and deep soul, which is what Davis and others recognized. Wilen's originals and blowing give the music and films a lavish sophistication. Also of note (and a must-listen) is Wilen's Jazz-Sur-Seine, an album that easily could have been a movie score. It features Wilen (ts), Milt Jackson (p), Percy Heath (b), Kenny Clarke (d) and Gana M'Bow (perc). Only 21 years old at the time, Wilen plays ambitiously with a Dexter Gordon edge throughout, and the original music is sensational.
Barney Wilen died in 1996.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Barney Wilen's Un Témoin Dans la Ville here. And Jazz-Sur-Seine here.
JazzWax clips: Here's the full Un Témoin Dans la Ville in playlist format...
And here's the full Jazz-Sur-Seine in playlist format. Crank it up!...
