The Aviator [Soundtrack]

Howard Shore | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 14, 2004)
• Original Release Date: December 25, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0006IINQE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,774 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #68 in Music > Jazz > Swing Jazz > Vintage Dance Bands

Track Listings

1. Shake That Thing - Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks Orchestra

2. I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise - Rufus Wainwright

3. Somebody Stole My Gal - The Original Memphis Five

4. Fireworks - The Original Memphis Five

5. Thanks - Bing Crosby with Jimmy Grier & His Orchestra

6. Happy Feet - Manhattan Rhythm Kings

7. After You've Gone - Loudon Wainwright III

8. Moonglow - Benny Goodman

9. I Can't Give You Anything But Love - Django Reinhardt

10. Ain't Cha Glad - David Johansen

11. Nightmare - Artie Shaw & His Orchestra

12. Stardust - Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks Orchestra

13. Do I Worry? - The Ink Spots

14. I'll Be Seeing You - Martha Wainwright

15. Back Beat Boogie - Harry James & His Orchestra

16. Moonlight Serenade - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra

17. Howard Hughes - Leadbelly

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

While Howard Shore's Golden Globe-winning score offers a masterful orchestral impression of industrialist Howard Hughes' troubled psychic landscape, this collection of pop tunes, swing and le hot jazz musically frames the historical eras covered by Martin Scorsese's acclaimed biopic. The director (always intimately involved in his film's scoring and song choices) delivers a collection that's a shrewd illusion in its own right. Vintage performances by big band icons Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw and eclectic pop, jazz and blues by the Ink Spots, Bing Crosby, Django Reinhardt and Leadbelly are interspersed with contemporary performances that seamlessly replicate the 1920s-40s aura with deceptive grace. Rufus Wainwright playfully vamps the pop mannerisms of the day on Gershwin's "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" and "After You've Gone" while sister Martha delivers a world-weary "I'll Be Seeing You." Elsewhere, David Johansen keeps his penchant for mugging well in check on the sprightly "Ain't Cha Glad," while fine contributions from Vince Giordano and The Manhattan Rhythm Kings complete the soundtrack's time-tripping musical sleight of hand. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

New film about Howard Hughes starring Leonardo DiCaprio & directed by Martin Scorsese. Also stars Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Alec Baldwin, Gwen Stefani, Ian Holm & Alan Alda. Opening on 12/17 on over 2,500 screens. Film soundtrack contains period music from the 30's & 40's by original artists & also some inspired covers. Artists include: Rufus Wainwright, David Johansen, Loudon Wainwright III, Leadbelly, Bing Crosby, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller & Vince Giordano. Music used heavily in film, will be a perfect companion piece to the film Oscar potential for Leonardo DiCaprio & Martin Scorsese.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is *not* the film soundtrack but "songs from" the film, January 11, 2005

By 

The Rocketman (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Aviator (Audio CD)

First, this is not the background score for the film THE AVIATOR but rather the actual, original period songs that Scorsese used to create atmosphere to the scenes.

Any sophisticated movie-goer knows that Marty Scorsese always chooses his music very carefully. This time, to invoke the jazz era of an America emerging on the world stage (just as Hughes is emerging in the public mind), Scorsese has provided an amazing compilation of popular music from the 1920s and 1930s. Sonically, these recordings are pristine and sound better than they ever could off of old RCA radios or 78 rpm records. The songs are of the big-band/swing flavor with a wide variety of artists represented. If you like this sort of thing, you will enjoy this CD. (Don't miss the closing track: Lead Belly's "Howard Hughes." No doubt this was added not just for thematic reasons, but also because Lead Belly was the first blues musician that moved Scorsese.)

And in case you haven't gotten enough of this era, you may want to check out the soundtracks to THE CAT'S MEOW (for mostly re-recorded songs weighted towards the 1920s) and RADIO DAYS (for actual, original songs weighted towards the late 1930s and early 40s). There is little overlap between these collections, so they make for a nice set.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Symphonic works included in the soundtrack to this film., January 2, 2005

By 

Jon T. (Durham, NH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Aviator (Audio CD)

In response to Kelli's question about the Symphonic excerpts that occur throughout this film: Some are from Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony, others are from an orchestration of the Fugue from Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, more than likely orchestrated by Stokowski, though potentially by another composer. I viewed thie film this afternoon, and there might have been other excerpts of other works included, but these are the two that stick in my mind. Perhaps these will be included with the score CD. If not, buy these works separately- they are well worth the investment and are gorgeous pieces of music in their own right, and worked very well in the film in my opinion.

As for the music included on this album, all are great covers of period songs, especially I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise sung by Rufus Wainwright, or are actual period pieces/songs, such as Moonglow by the brilliant clarinetist Benny Goodman. In short, this is great music from the early to mid 20th century by great artists of the past and present. If you enjoy music from this time period, definitely get this album!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best 1920s-1940s pop compilations, April 4, 2005

By 

"Gimpy" Peach Johnson - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Aviator (Audio CD)

I saw "The Aviator" and was not entirely impressed (it was a bit on the boring side), but this soundtrack CD is fantastic! Whether you saw the film or not, if you like vintage jazz and big bands, get this CD. It would be impossible to put together a single-CD "best of" collection for the 1920s-1940s, and what makes this CD so refreshing is that it doesn't try to be a "best of" disc. Some of the era's most memorable recordings are here, like Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" and Benny Goodman's "Moonglow," but these standards are complemented with some lesser-known but equally deserving selections such as the hot "Fireworks" by the Original Memphis Five. The producers of this disc have done an outstanding job assembling a varied collection that never gets tiring.

By far, the highlights of the disc--and the reason I bought it--are the modern recreations of 1920s-1940s pop tunes by Vince Giordano's Nighthawks. For those who aren't familiar with the Nighthawks, I should add that they are one of the top bands active today performing music of the '20s-'40s (and the best, in my opinion). What makes the Nighthawks so special is that they strive to authentically recreate the sound of the bands of that era -- these are not the corny-sounding, over-the-top parodies of "flapper" music that you used to find on Reader's Digest sets or on those Grand Award LP's directed by Enoch Light. Not at all. Giordano and members of his band treat the music with respect and often perform note-for-note from original arrangements or recordings. Just compare the Nighthawks' arrangement of "I'll Build A Stairway to Paradise" with the 1922 recording by Paul Whiteman (forgetting Rufus Wainwright's vocal for the moment). It's uncanny! However, where the 1922 Whiteman recording suffers from the tinny sound of acoustical recording, Giordano's Nighthawks burst forth in full-range, stereo sound. Purists may argue that some of the vocals on the recreation tracks (particularly Wainwright's) do not accurately reflect singing styles of the 1920s, and that may be true, but Wainwright's sappy-sounding, almost whiny vocal stylings don't bother me very much. If the vocals don't interest you, then check out some of the hot instrumentals, like "Shake That Thing" "Happy Feet," or "Yellow Dog Blues." If those don't set your feet tapping, then you're probably already dead.

Generally, the sound of the disc is excellent. I was disappointed with the Original Memphis Five recording of "Somebody Stole My Gal," which suffers from severe digital over-processing (with added digital artifacts and a general "muddy" sound). The remastering of the other vintage recordings is quite nice, and the sound of the modern recordings is fabulous--they are rich, warm, and full-sounding, just as if the Nighthawks were right in front of you.

A few notes in the booklet about the recordings and pieces would have been appreciated (in place of movie stills), but overall, I was very impressed with this CD, and would heartily recommend it to any fan of 1920s-1940s jazz and popular music. It's excellent!