Biography

At 21 French tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen achieved instant fame when he played with Miles Davis’ group on the sound track to the Louis Malle film noir classic Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows). Today the album is considered one of Miles’ masterpieces. Wilen also performed with Art Blakey on the soundtrack to Roger Vadim’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses. In the following years he sampled music styles ranging from the Avant-garde to fusion on into world music. Wilen recorded two highly regarded MPS albums under his own name: Dear Prof. Leary and Auto Jazz.