BARNEY WILEN’S MOTHER WAS FRENCH, HIS FATHER A SUCCESSFUL AMERICAN
DENTIST - TURNED-INVENTOR AND HE GREW UP MOSTLY ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA ...
THE FAMILY LEFT DURING WORLD WAR II BUT RETURNED UPON ITS CONCLUSION.
ACCORDING TO WILEN HIMSELF, HE WAS CONVINCED TO BECOME A MUSICIAN BY
HIS MOTHER’S FRIEND, THE POET BLAISE CENDRARS. . . AS A TEENAGER HE STARTED A
YOUTH JAZZ CLUB IN NICE, WHERE HE PLAYED OFTEN. HE MOVED TO PARIS IN THE
MID-’50s AND WORKED WITH SUCH AMERICAN MUSICIANS AS BUD POWELL, BENNY
GOLSON, MILES DAVIS, AND J. J. JOHNSON AT THE CLUB ST. GERMAIN. HIS EMERGING
REPUTATION RECEIVED A BOOST IN 1957 WHEN HE PLAYED WITH DAVIS ON THE
SOUNDTRACK TO THE LOUIS MALLE’S FILM “LIFT TO THE SCAFFOLD” (“ASCENSEUR POUR L’ECHAFAUD”)
ASCENSEUR POUR
L'ECHAFAUD). TWO YEARS LATER, HE PERFORMED WITH ART BLAKEY AND THELONIOUS
MONK ON THE SOUNDTRACK TO ROGER VADIM’S “LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES” (1960)
–––– UP FOR SALE A KILLER COPY OF THIS INSANELY RARE ORIGINAL 1957 MONO PRESSING,
ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER FRENCH JAZZ ALBUMS - NOT A REISSUE, THIS IS THE
REAL THING WITH BEAUTIFUL SHINY AND HARDLY PLAYED FLAT EDGE VINYL RECORD -
JUST A TINY MARK ON TRACK 3, SIDE ONE THAT MAKES A VERY FEW MILD TICS, OTHERWISE A SUPERB PLAYBACK EXPERIENCE –– THE UNLAMINATED COVER IS ALSO
IN GREAT SHAPE WITH SLIGHT CREASE TO UPPER FRONT LEFT SIDE. MATRIX NUMBERS STAMPED IN THE DEAD WAX : XPARTX 35635/M6 182697 ;
XPARTX 35636/M6 182698 - (ETCHED) : J-1239 PT1 / J-1239 PT2.
