Armando Trovaioli — Rapporto Fuller Base Stoccolma

American Ken Clark made several Italian spy flicks over the course of the '60s, and Sergio Greco's Rapporto Fuller Base Stoccolma (aka Fuller Report, Base Stockholm, '69) was the last of them. Armando Trovaioli supplies the swinging beat jazz score for the mission. (Beat Records also released soundtrack for another Clark spy flick known in the states as Tiffany Memorandum from '67 on a triple feature Riz Ortolani compilation.)

Trovaioli's score for Rapporto Fuller is among his most swinging. The main theme, "The Touch of a Kiss," sung passionately by Lara Saint Paul, has the lush lounge sound in spades. Strutting brass, swelling strings and strong back beat push the emotion front and center.

Most notably, Trovaioli supplies action jazz cues that mimic the style of Dave Brubeck's famous cool jazz standard "Take Five," but add hot brass, smoldering woodwinds and stinging organ stabs.

In addition, there are relatively abstract cues ("Just a Bullet, Just a Fist") that build tension on dissonant strings and percussion runs as well as dreamy passages ("Tears and Spies") featuring piano, harp and floating female vocalisms. The night club-type jazz numbers (such as "The Stockholm Baths") sound like something from the early '60s, certainly not '69, but are still groovy in their own laid-back, sophisticated manner.

Twenty-four tracks strong, Rapporto Fuller is a intriguing from beginning to end, and one of the best soundtracks in the Italian spy game.

The CD insert folds out into a mini-reproduction of the eye-catching original movie poster.

This review was previously published at the author's soundtrack review site www.ScoreBaby.com.