Customer Reviews

Jazz in Film

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This compilation of jazz, includes a variety of styles and moods. The music is drawn from films from the mid 1950's, all the way up to 1997's Austin Powers, with the emphasis more on the first half of this 42 year span. The music is mostly upbeat, with the production mostly on the soft side, where instruments generally do not blare, or slice through sharply. It is an enjoyable listen, but the arrangements seem to lack edginess. The National Youth Jazz Orchestra is based in London, and despite the name, the group is an ensemble of professional musicians, with substantial experience. The CD comes with extensive liner notes, with background information about the music, and the films they came from.

Modesty Blaise (1966): Although the horns could be stronger in the mix, and the solo could have been more inspired, this is a nice upbeat version of John Dankworth's main theme.

Suite From Bullit (1968): A compilation piece that joins Lalo Shifrin's main theme, with other cues from the Steve McQueen crime thriller. The piece loses energy after it transitions to the second section, but manages to come back forcefully, before moving into the free-flowing and improvisational third section.

Touch of Evil (1958): With that classic Mancini sound, this Latin flavored number takes you somewhere romantic south of the border.

Cinderella Liberty (1973): A beautiful piece by John Williams that seems to evoke the emotions and feelings of being in a big city.

Dudley Moore Tribute: Moore was a skilled composer and musician, providing the music for several films. Featured here are themes from Bedazzled (1967) and Thirty Is A Dangerous Age Cynthia (1968). This is a meandering improvisational composition, featuring piano, guitar and sax, that is a bit hard to get a handle on.

The Gauntlet (1977): Jerry Fielding's theme is slow traditional jazz with a bayou flavor, and stands out from the rest of the album. It's fine as a change of pace, but seems out of place in this collection.

The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 (1974): Menacing and rumbling along with to a swinging mechanical beat, this version of David Shire's theme goes on long enough to get a little repetitious, but still manages to retain most of its initial energy.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988): Light and somewhat aimless, Alan Silvestri's theme, like The Gauntlet, seems a little out of place.

Man With The Golden Arm (1955): This is the earliest film in the collection. Elmer Bernstein is a composer who is not that well known today. Favoring bold brass and percussion, it takes a little while for this tune to hit its stride.

Walk On The Wild Side (1962): More of Bernstein, this is version has perhaps a more modern sound than what is commonly associated with his work. Like his previous selection, this one features an improvisational section that seems an odd fit. Neither tune is outstanding, so it might have been better to have chosen just one tune from the composer.

Dirty Harry Suite: Versatile Lalo Schifrin provided the music for all five Dirty Harry films. Although the music from each is very different, this composition does a pretty good of job stitching the main themes from Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, and Sudden Impact. The result is not particularly cohesive, but it's still an interesting listen.

Austin Powers (Soul Bossa Nova) (1997): A perfectly shagalicious version, but this tune is so recent compared to the others that it does not quite seen to fit.

Overall, this is a good collection, but there are a few selections that are not that great. A little more diversity in the composers would have been nice, as Schifrin and Bernstein are represented twice. Narrowing the forty year span, might have been a good idea, as beyond being just being jazz tunes, the compilation does not have a cohesive theme. The modern treatments given to the older numbers, kind of gives the collection a more unified sound. The tone seems rather soft, without a lot of aggression. The arrangements are on the conservative side, leaning towards easy listening, much more tame than the Crime Jazz collections, which have a richer production, and a sharper edge. Those really into movie themes with a jazz flavor, might want to investigate these albums.

Silva America presents some great jazz with "Jazz In Film", featuring some of the best cues ever to grace filmland via The National Youth Jazz Orchestra ~ recorded on the 2nd and 3rd of September 2003 by Mike Ross at the Sony Studios in London ~ covering fifty years and produced by Rick Clark, who just happens to have a keen eye for what the film score and jazz buffs crave...music we can certainly dig!

Featuring wonderful jazz compositions ~ "MODESTY BLAISE" (1966) (John Dankworth), "SUITE FROM BULLITT" (1968) (Lalo Schifrin), "TOUCH OF EVIL" 1958) (Henry Mancini-my favorite composer of all time, he set standards for the rest to follow), "CINDERELLA LIBERTY" (1973) (John Williams), "DUDLEY MOORE TRIBUTE" (1935-2002) (music of Dudley Moore), "THE GAUNTLET" (1973) (Jerry Felding), "THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3" (1974) (David Shire), "WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?" (1988) (Alan Silvestri), "THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM" (1955) (Elmer Bernstein), "WALK ON THE WILD SIDE" (1962) (Elmer Bernstein), "DIRTY HARRY" (1971-83) (Lalo Schifrin) and "AUSTIN POWERS SOUL BOSSA NOVA" (1997) (Quincy Jones/George S. Clinton) ~ top notch arrangements give this album high marks. Every young musician contributes with brilliant brass and over the top solo performances ~ can Silva and Rick Clark have a volume two up their sleeve...gotta love it!

Total Time: 72:28 on 12 Tracks ~ Silva 1159 ~ (3/09/2004)