Chez le Photographe du Motel - Miles Davis

In the air is the scent of Cennelle Orange and Cinnamon scented incense by L'Occitane, and in rotation is the smooth and sometimes pained sounds of Miles Davis. The tune is Chez Le Photographe Du Motel from the Ascenseur pour l'echafaud Jazz in Paris collection.

I remember the first time I heard this tune playing in my wife's Pandora while sifting through a Charlie Parker mix. I was doing five other things and heard a screeching from across the room of what sounded like the most pained trumpet voice I'd ever heard. I'm no stranger to Miles, but I'd never heard the tune before, and yet knew instantly there could only be one master behind the voice. Miles. Who else can speak such a language.

He starts the tune without the instantly recognizable Harmon mute as if provide his own introduction while incognito. Like a near cousin speaking with the same dialect, the non-muted trumpet kicks off the first chorus. Once unmasked Miles then takes over with the Harmon mute and continues to tell the story. The great thing of this instrumental work is that the tune becomes a soundtrack to all the love, pain, sorrow and joy, you've ever felt or feel at the moment. For me the emotion is peace. This is a theme that resonates deeply with me, and Miles masterfully sings it in this music. I hear each note and inhale a deep breath... exhaling with a divine connection to myself and the universe around me. Miles is shaping that universe for me at this moment with his sound and this tune.

I have to play the tune a few more times in this sitting, as 3 minutes and 54 seconds just isn't enough time for me to fully comprehend the gamut of emotions I'm feeling. This is serious stuff and about as deep a piece of music as it gets. Not settling for a conventional ending, Miles rides out the final chorus like he had more things to say, but the pain just made him stop. He's said all he can say... for now.