Bank Holiday Greetings With Miles Davis

No post today. Just wishing everyone a peaceful holiday (Labour Day in the U.S.). Enjoy this previous post on Miles Davis. I also found an interesting interview with Miles on the Today Show. It's a pretty standard interview but if you're not familiar with Miles Davis its worth watching and listening.

The Quirky Crime Jazz of Peter Thomas

The Best of Edgar Wallace
Peter Thomas, Martin Bottcher & Nora Orlandi
All Score Media

Here's an exciting collection of beat jazz from 18 b-grade thrillers made in Germany between '61-'71. The series actually consisted of 32 features made between the late '50s and early '70s, all produced by Constantin Films, based on popular fiction -- primarily that of British author Edgar Wallace. With titles such as "The Monster of Soho" and "The Spell of the Sinister One," these flicks featured a plethora of time-tested cliches: the tough but charming hero, the damsel in distress, the sinister villain (often played by everyone's favorite nutcase Klaus Kinski).

When it came to scoring the Edgar Wallace thrillers, Peter Thomas (Raumpatrolle, 100% Cotton) was the most inventive composer at the studio's disposal. His combination of beat jazz and sound effects (gun shots, hand claps, etc.) and penchant for unusual juxtapositions still sound fresh today. Racing rhythms, sensual horns, pulsing organ riffs are all on display. About 70 percent of the music on this collection is by Thomas, the rest being split between Martin Bottcher and Nora Orlandi.

Thomas is especially essential to the jazzy soundtrack pantheon, and this is a worthy collection. Bear in mind, too, that none of the Thomas soundtracks were released when the movies came out. The liner notes postulate that the studio considered Thomas' music "too weird to play at home". Today's presumably more open-minded music fans will undoubtedly find Thomas' weirdness refreshing.

This review originally appeared on the author's website www.ScoreBaby.com

The Quirky Crime Jazz of Michel Magne

Melodie en Sous Sol / Un Singe en Hiver

Michel Magne

Universal

Les Tontons Flingueurs /
Ne Nous Fachons Pas
Michel Magne / Bernard Gerard
Universal

One of the great French film composers, Michel Magne (Fantomas, OSS 117) scored his fair share of classic '60s flicks, and Universal has released several of them on a handful of compilations.

A recent Magne double bill from Universal pairs his jazz-tinged score for Henri Verneuil's heist drama Melodie en Sous Sol (aka Any Number Can Win, '63) and his more exotic work for Verneuil's Un Singe en Hiver (aka A Monkey in Winter, '62).

When Magne teamed with Verneuil he was in his early 30s and already displaying a penchant for unconventional orchestration (prepared piano, bursts of percussion) and catchy melodies. In the main theme for Monkey the composer juxtaposes expressive Oriental lute and percussion with sections for solo harmonica against lush strings. The Oriental and harmonica bits reoccur throughout the score, juxtaposed with baroque strings ("Yang Tse Kiang"), Spanish guitar and Mariachi brass ("Corrida Ethylique"), Argentinian accordion and tango tempo ("Pekin-Buenos Aires") and jazz trio ("China Jazz Hot").

For Any Number, Magne favored a big band jazz sound bolstered with swinging string sections ("Palm Beach"), but also explored a glamorous orchestral sound featuring regal brass, chorus and cascading piano chords ("Hymne a L'argent"). The high drama supplied by strings and earthy tones of the jazzier sections is reminiscent of Alex North's score for Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire ('51). The main theme is a scorcher, enflamed by crashing percussion and blaring brass. For Magne's more eccentric side check out "Hold Up (Part 2)," which starts with scraping pizzicato strings and what sounds like a Theremin before swinging away into beat jazz. It's cool, daddy-o.

The Number/Monkey CD closes with jazz organ legend Jimmy Smith's classic take on "Any Number Can Win" as well as a couple of Fred Pallem's unusual modern mixes of themes from both films.

An earlier Universal CD that celebrates the films of Georges Lautner juxtaposes Magne's scores for the action crime comedy Les Tontons Flingeurs (aka Monsieur Gangster, '63), action comedy thriller Les Barbouzes (aka The Great Spy Chase, '64), comedy spy thriller Le Monocle Rit Jaune (aka The Monocle's Sour Laugh, '64) and the crime drama Galia ('66) alongside Bernard Gerard's scores for the crime comedy Ne Nous Fachons Pas (aka Let's Not Get Angry, '66) and the crime drama La Grande Sauterelle ('67).

Among the Magne highlights is the crime jazz of "Route de Nuit," the playfully eccentric "Tamoure," the early rock 'n' roller "Tamoure Hully-Gully," the Western trotter "Barbouzes en Folie," the episodic and atmospheric "Du Rififi au chateau," the modal jazzer "Le Monocle Rit Jaune," the musically comedic "Monocle Story," the Bach-like Swingle Singers showcase "Largo," and the West Coast-style jazzer "Piege Party."

For his part, Gerard provides a big sky Western theme for Ne Nous Fachons Pas, a bit of baroque jazz ("Ballade Romantique"), some slick '60s surf rock ("Rosbif Attack"), a "Gloria" rip-off ("Akou," featuring an English language vocal by Graeme Allwright) and tense theme combining fuzz guitar, strings and drums for La Grande Sauterelle as well as a full throttle fuzz guitar rocker for the same picture ("Mechoui").

All told, these Universal discs display Magne's penchant for experimental flourish as well as the under-heralded film work of Bernard Gerard.

This review previously appeared on the author's site www.ScoreBaby.com

Dizzy Gillespie "The Quintet": Why It's Important

The Quintet
Jazz At Massey Hall

A landmark happening. An "it-will-never-happen-again" or "once-in-a-lifetime" moment. Five legends (and I mean LEGENDS) of jazz got together one evening in 1953, to record a tension-filled concert at Massey Hall. Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Bud Powell (piano), Charlie Parker (sax), Max Roach (drums) and Charles Mingus (bass) all in the same room. The album would be called, The Quintet Jazz At Massey Hall (Debut/OJC).

This was the first and last time these giants had gotten together. Yes, you and I should have been there. Fortunately and unfortunately as history tells it there weren't a lot of people at this show surprisingly. This was a firecracker of a show because some of the musicians didn't get along in the first place, but also Charlie "Bird" Parker arrived without his horn and had to borrow one.In addition to the fact the Bird and Diz where left to wait for a second flight to Toronto after the rest of the band had left due to over booking.

The performance itself is as you would expect, on fire. These were bop legends still with all their chops and ready to set the stage ablaze. Oh, and did I mention--there was no time for rehearsals? Ripping through "now classics" like Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts" and "A Night In Tunisia" and the wonderful Hammerstein-Kern "All The Things You Are", this was a set not to be missed. Thankfully Charles Mingus had recorded the date and it would later be released on vinyl (and of course CD).

There has been much said about this show and its real importance. Some question if it really was that great of a performance. Well that is up to the ear of the listener. But most of the people I know who have listened to this album believe as I do--it is one of the greatest concerts of all time.

While no video exists of this concert there is footage of some of the performers together in different setting. So take a look and then imagine them all together and you may get close to to that one night in May of 1953. For further study into this little slice of history there is great book called Quintet Of The Year by Geoffrey Haydon that does a full diagnoisis of this night. A great read.