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· Illustration by the author
· May 17, 2024
The first feature film with recorded sound was in 1927 Jazz singer. Its release sparked a subtle but crucial cultural shift by showing that music could not only be seamlessly integrated into film as a way of expressing character and action, but that there were some styles of music (jazz in this case, albeit starring vaudeville star Al Jolson, this was jazz in name only) modern enough to build an entire film around. The Great Depression and World War II were to define the image of the hipster in cinema as an outsider, someone who kept aloof from society while interacting with it. Often a private detective or musician – or even just a woman trying to win her independence in a patriarchal, capitalist society – the classic hipster fought for justice and morality, often through her own existence and endurance. They were modern because they knew what society did not have, they possessed values that society did not share, and they could live like that.
Parallel to the development of the hipster character came the golden age of film and TV soundtracks, the music that represented the hipster in mainstream culture. For decades, this meant jazz, and dozens of fantastic, classically modern music records from that era bear witness to that fact. Jazz eventually became an institutional mainstay in the 1980s, so the idea of hip-outsider music fragmented, but once again coalesced around one style. Maybe that’s how things will be from now on, but Bandcamp has a lot of classic modern music records, from the 50s to recent years, from classic jazz to offshoots of classical composition, rock and even funk.
Here is a selection of some of the wonders of cinematic sound.
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Jazz on film…Film Noir
The first name in the classical, modern music background is a British label Moochin’ About. They’ve released a dozen multi-disc collections of ’50s and ’60s music that epitomizes how jazz has been used to represent everything from popular underdog status to romance to danger in movies and TV shows. This set features the complete music composed and played by Duke Ellington, John Lewis, Henry Mancini and others and the collaborative music of Elmer Bernstein and Chico Hamilton for the stylistically sleazy The sweet smell of success (1957).
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Jazz on film… TV criminal jazz!
Before prestige television, there was modern television: shows that represented law and society on the one hand, and outlaws on the other. The latter involved private detectives, who in fiction are more concerned with justice than with what society says is legal. Some of these shows are well known and have spawned famous and enduring music, such as the theme from Peter Gunn (1958–61). Then there is Johnny Staccato (1959–60), a crime drama starring a young John Cassavetes as a jazz pianist/private detective. It almost seems like something from The Simpsonsbut it was real, featured leading jazz musicians and had another great score by Elmer Bernstein.
Various artists
Jazz on film… New wave
Jean-Luc Godard Breathless (Breathless) (1960) begins with an explosion of superb big band music by Martial Solal and its unforgettable main theme. It’s impossible to imagine French New Wave cinema without jazz, and this collection (and subsequent volumes) goes beyond musical scores to present some of the best mid-century modern jazz. The highlight is Miles Davis’ soundtrack for Elevator to the Gallows (Elevator to the Gallows) (1958), Louis Malle’s whimsical crime drama starring Jeanne Moreau. Completely improvised in the studio while watching a screening of the film, Miles is joined by a small group that includes the great Kenny Clarke on drums and the evocative saxophonist Barney Wilen. One of the best soundtracks of all time and one of Miles’ best albums.
Various artists
Beat, Square & Cool
The Beatniks were the original hipsters of mass culture, outsiders who grew up during the explosion of the commercial media era after World War II. This set includes music by André Previn for the film adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s work Underground (1960), Charles Mingus’ score for Cassavetes’ important independent film Shadows (1958) and a score written by jazz pianist and composer Freddie Redd for Connection (1961), a stage play later recorded by Shirley Clarke—and arguably the best hard bop jazz album ever recorded. And then there’s the Leith Stevens soundtrack for Wild (1953), a film that seems tame now, but which in 1953 was an outrageous depiction of outlaw motorcycle gangs, starring Marlon Brando as the iconic Johnny Strabler. When asked, “Hey Johnny, what are you up against,” he replies, “What do you have?”
Tindersticks
Stars at noon
English alternative rock band Tindersticks since then they have been creating music scores for Claire Denis films Problems every day 2001. The latest is for its 2022 adaptation by Denis Johnson Stars at noon. This atmospheric romantic thriller is about a journalist trying to find a way out of a Central American country in the midst of political unrest. Understated, elegant and stark, the music conjures up the sound of someone on the precipice, maintaining a cool facade in the midst of mounting danger.
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone’s Crime: The Thriller Movies
The great Morricone is best known for his soundtracks to Sergio Leone’s trilogy of Spaghetti Westerns, but also he wrote a large amount of music for Italian thrillers and giallo films, many of which have hardly been seen outside of Italy. His brilliance with melody and instrumentation produced a sound that became a signature character in itself – just a few seconds, and the listener could tell he was an outlaw, be it a cowboy, a criminal or a cop.
Johnny Greenwood
The power of the dog (Sound track from the Netflix movie)
Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has been honing his craft as a film composer ever since Bodysong in 2003, and his result from 2007 for There will be blood was nominated for a Grammy. Much of his music is oriented towards outsider characters; this is doubly true for Jane Campion 2021 The power of the dog, where Greenwood’s themes provide context for the character of Phil Burbank, a social and sexual outcast. The overwhelming sound here could be the sound of fate itself.
Isaac Hayes
Shaft (Music from the soundtrack)
If the music for an important, groundbreaking blaxploitation crime thriller Shaft (1971) was just a standard set of orchestral themes and notes, and will continue to be noted for representing ideas about a parallel culture within mainstream, white Hollywood. But in the hands Isaac Hayes, the album is not only one of the great movie soundtracks, but also one of the best funk records of all time. From Wah Wah Watson’s guitar to Hayes asking “Can you figure it out?”, this is an icon of modernity.