Monday, March 26, 2007
And all that jazz
Something I often like about late ‘50s movies are the brassy jazzy scores. Such music was even more apt for this film since there is a jazz band in it. I thought it was a bit unfortunate that there was a longish spell in the middle that reverted to sappier generic movie mood music. It would have been better to stay loud and brassy straight on through. No?
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9 comments:
Yes, agreed. I especially loved the music in the opening scenes. Real brassy and out there. It let you know what kind of movie you were in for.
The only problem was that the jazz band had a very poor brass section. They couldn't play together worth a damn, and the lead trumpet player didn't even play accurate notes. From a composition standpoint, the score was superb; the band they had just couldn't pull it off.
The quintet was great, though. Very tight.
I enjoyed the brass section. I thought it was superb.
The looseness of the brass gave it the feel of a club band, which might have been appropriate, but I'd still prefer a pristine score played by great studio musicians.
But Ben, that wouldn't be appropriate to the movie's mood.
I also loved the music at the beginning, but I've got a different complaint (I'm going to sound about 80 years old when I say this) ... On first viewing, I had to replay the movie from the beginning to halfway through Sidney and J.J.'s interaction at 21, and that was to get a better idea of what was happening before proceeding. I had trouble hearing and comprehending the dialogue because it wasn't much louder than the music. I loved the feel and energy of it, but initially it made it hard for me to follow the plot.
It may not have been possible in the 1950s to get a band that had both soul and perfect technique. That can be done today (just listen to any recent James Bond score).
I'm sorry, I'm making way too much of this. It bothered me as a big band lover and former lead trumpet player. It wouldn't detract from the film for folks who aren't as obsessed with it.
The music was fantastic. It was thick. I wanted to swim in it.
Agggghhhhh! That is the perfect way to express it: thick.
That's good.
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