The ’80s was a decade of movies that you can hear at a roar even on mute. A screenshot of Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay aboard the train in “Risky Business” has a sound to it. The same goes for a still image of Kaneda riding towards Neo-Tokyo in “Akira,” or Jack Nicholson’s car snaking its way up the mountains towards the Overlook Hotel during the opening titles of “The Shining.”
It was a decade of synths and sad jazz; a decade of legends reaching the height of their powers (e.g. John Williams and Ennio Morricone), and of newcomers from other disciplines becoming cinematic virtuosos in their own right (e.g. Ryuichi Sakamoto and Philip Glass). The movies had never sounded that way before, but the best film scores of the ’80s — our picks are listed below — continue to echo in our minds as if they’ve always been there.
It was a decade of synths and sad jazz; a decade of legends reaching the height of their powers (e.g. John Williams and Ennio Morricone), and of newcomers from other disciplines becoming cinematic virtuosos in their own right (e.g. Ryuichi Sakamoto and Philip Glass). The movies had never sounded that way before, but the best film scores of the ’80s — our picks are listed below — continue to echo in our minds as if they’ve always been there.
- 8/15/2023
- by David Ehrlich and Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. Here, these artists tell their complete stories, giving an up-close look at life on music’s A list. This edition features pianist Alan Pasqua.
When Bob Dylan entered the recording studio in early 2020 to cut his 17-minute epic “Murder Most Foul,” he could have phoned...
When Bob Dylan entered the recording studio in early 2020 to cut his 17-minute epic “Murder Most Foul,” he could have phoned...
- 1/27/2023
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Bertrand Tavernier’s 1986 musical drama is based on the life of the saxophonist Lester Young, played by the great bebop artist Dexter Gordon as a struggling band man named Dale Turner. Turner’s highs and lows are reflected in the wonderful music on the soundtrack including Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. Gordon is joined by other real life jazz musicians in a diverse cast including Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Martin Scorsese has a small but scintillating part as a crooked club manager.
The post Round Midnight appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Round Midnight appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 9/6/2021
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Bob Dylan, who hasn’t released an original song since 2012’s Tempest, unexpectedly dropped a previously unheard, nearly 17-minute-long new track, “Murder Most Foul,” late Thursday night.
Dylan didn’t say exactly when the song was recorded, but his delicate vocal delivery resembles the way he’s been singing in his live shows in the past couple of years. “Greetings to my fans and followers with gratitude for all your support and loyalty over the years,” Dylan said in a statement. “This is an unreleased song we recorded a while...
Dylan didn’t say exactly when the song was recorded, but his delicate vocal delivery resembles the way he’s been singing in his live shows in the past couple of years. “Greetings to my fans and followers with gratitude for all your support and loyalty over the years,” Dylan said in a statement. “This is an unreleased song we recorded a while...
- 3/27/2020
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
McCoy Tyner, one of the most distinctive and influential jazz pianists of the past 60 years, who became best known for his work with John Coltrane’s legendary 1960s quartet, died at age 81.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of jazz legend Alfred ‘McCoy’ Tyner,” his family wrote in a statement. “McCoy was an inspired musician who devoted his life to his art, his family, and his spirituality. McCoy Tyner’s music and legacy will continue to inspire fans and future talent for generations to come.”
Tyner...
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of jazz legend Alfred ‘McCoy’ Tyner,” his family wrote in a statement. “McCoy was an inspired musician who devoted his life to his art, his family, and his spirituality. McCoy Tyner’s music and legacy will continue to inspire fans and future talent for generations to come.”
Tyner...
- 3/6/2020
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
Jazz is an art form that can be examined any number of ways — historically, racially, structurally, even philosophically — but choosing one of those runs the risk of ignoring the equally-important rest. Sophie Huber’s thoughtful but unfocused documentary “Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes” falls short primarily because it tries too much, examining history, modern-day impact and legacy all in one.
Nevertheless an engaging thumbnail overview of the record label’s heyday, its key players, and the descendants and disciples committed to carrying on its name and vision, “Beyond the Notes” succeeds better as an introduction to Blue Note and jazz in general than as an expert or in-depth examination of the musical genre or one of its most iconic distributors.
Part of the challenge is deciding where to start: With the musicians who pioneered the genre, or the earliest fans-turned visionaries who helped get them heard? Huber begins with Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff,...
Nevertheless an engaging thumbnail overview of the record label’s heyday, its key players, and the descendants and disciples committed to carrying on its name and vision, “Beyond the Notes” succeeds better as an introduction to Blue Note and jazz in general than as an expert or in-depth examination of the musical genre or one of its most iconic distributors.
Part of the challenge is deciding where to start: With the musicians who pioneered the genre, or the earliest fans-turned visionaries who helped get them heard? Huber begins with Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff,...
- 6/12/2019
- by Todd Gilchrist
- The Wrap
Eve Goldberg looks back on a "can't miss" film production that fell short of expectations:
Paris Blues could have been a hit. It could have been a game-changer. It could have become a classic. Starring Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier as expatriate jazz musicians, this 1961 movie was filmed in Paris, directed by Martin Ritt and written by Walter Bernstein (The Front). All the ingredients for a compelling, top-notch entertainment were in place.
But the movie misses. Despite strong performances, a fascinating milieu, meaty subject matter, gorgeous cinematography, several unforgettable set pieces, and a score by Duke Ellington, the whole is distinctly less than the sum of its parts.
So, what went wrong?
The problem is the script. How the script falters, and why, is perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the film.
Paris Blues is based on a 1957 same-titled novel by Harold Flender. The book tells the story of Eddie Cook,...
Paris Blues could have been a hit. It could have been a game-changer. It could have become a classic. Starring Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier as expatriate jazz musicians, this 1961 movie was filmed in Paris, directed by Martin Ritt and written by Walter Bernstein (The Front). All the ingredients for a compelling, top-notch entertainment were in place.
But the movie misses. Despite strong performances, a fascinating milieu, meaty subject matter, gorgeous cinematography, several unforgettable set pieces, and a score by Duke Ellington, the whole is distinctly less than the sum of its parts.
So, what went wrong?
The problem is the script. How the script falters, and why, is perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the film.
Paris Blues is based on a 1957 same-titled novel by Harold Flender. The book tells the story of Eddie Cook,...
- 8/8/2018
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
If you're excited about Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling's upcoming film La La Land, I've got a couple of treats for you today. A new trailer has been released feature plenty of new footage from the film. I've also included another embed featuring the song "City of Stars," which is a duet sung by Stone and Gosling. I actually really like the song, and you should give it a listen.
La La Land comes from director Damien Chazelle, who previously brought us the incredible film Whiplash. I have no doubt that he's going to give audiences another amazing film with La La Land, and I'm looking forward to seeing it.
A devotee of the jazz legends Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) plays a mean piano himself and is determined to uphold the values of the old masters. His plans include opening his own club, but to...
La La Land comes from director Damien Chazelle, who previously brought us the incredible film Whiplash. I have no doubt that he's going to give audiences another amazing film with La La Land, and I'm looking forward to seeing it.
A devotee of the jazz legends Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) plays a mean piano himself and is determined to uphold the values of the old masters. His plans include opening his own club, but to...
- 11/20/2016
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Chances to hear pianist Art Lande in action in New York City are rare; with bassist Steve Swallow, even rarer (they had a band in the Bay Area in the '70s). Fortunately for New Yorkers, clarinetist/soprano saxophonist Mike McGinnis took it upon himself to bring them together for some trio concerts, and though snow in Colorado kept Lande from arriving for the originally scheduled Thursday and Friday shows, IBeam was able to accommodate them for the expected four sets by squeezing in a late set Saturday and then three sets Sunday night; I caught the first two on Sunday.
Art Lande acted as the Mc for the evening, and his humor was quickly apparent when he said that if McGinnis had not written their first number, "The Rising," specifically for Easter, we could think of bread instead. The trio had only played together for one rehearsal and the previous evening's set,...
Art Lande acted as the Mc for the evening, and his humor was quickly apparent when he said that if McGinnis had not written their first number, "The Rising," specifically for Easter, we could think of bread instead. The trio had only played together for one rehearsal and the previous evening's set,...
- 3/28/2016
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron was born on August 16, 1925 in New York City. His father worked for the Long Island Rail Road. Mal started taking classical piano lessons at age seven and, inspired by his love of jazz, also learned alto saxophone. He earned a B.A. in Music from Queens College, with the G.I. Bill (he'd been drafted in 1943 and served for two years, fortunately not seeing combat) paying for his tuition. He worked in jazz, blues, and R&B contexts and made his first recording in 1952 as a member of Ike Quebec's band. In '54-56 he was part of Charles Mingus's Jazz Workshop and recorded with Mingus. Waldron went out on his own as a leader at the end of 1956 with the album Mal/1 on Prestige and quickly became one of the prolific label's house pianists. The following year he added to his workload the position of Billie Holiday's accompanist,...
- 8/16/2015
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Because explaining the glories of a project like this requires a length unsuited for a listicle, my favorite jazz album of 2014 gets an article all to itself. The rest of my list will follow later this week.
Allen Lowe: Mulatto Radio: Field Recordings 1-4 or: A Jew at Large in the Minstrel Diaspora (Constant Sorrow)
Allen Lowe has (at least) a double identity: jazz composer/saxophonist, and scholar of early American jazz and pop. This four-cd set combines those identities even more than usual as it contains a whopping 62 original compositions, many -- perhaps even most; I didn't do the math, but it feels that way -- inspired by the sounds and personalities of early jazz and pre-jazz (both kinds of ragtime, etc.), as detailed vividly in his accompanying notes: Bunk Johnson (we get many movements from a Bunk Johnson Suite), Bix Beiderbecke, Paul Whiteman, Ernest Hogan, James Reese Europe,...
Allen Lowe: Mulatto Radio: Field Recordings 1-4 or: A Jew at Large in the Minstrel Diaspora (Constant Sorrow)
Allen Lowe has (at least) a double identity: jazz composer/saxophonist, and scholar of early American jazz and pop. This four-cd set combines those identities even more than usual as it contains a whopping 62 original compositions, many -- perhaps even most; I didn't do the math, but it feels that way -- inspired by the sounds and personalities of early jazz and pre-jazz (both kinds of ragtime, etc.), as detailed vividly in his accompanying notes: Bunk Johnson (we get many movements from a Bunk Johnson Suite), Bix Beiderbecke, Paul Whiteman, Ernest Hogan, James Reese Europe,...
- 1/5/2015
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
No jazz pianist in the last 45 years has been uninfluenced by Bud Powell, because his work in the early days of bebop with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie established the prototype for the style's pianists, at least in a group setting: quicksilver, horn-like figures from the right hand, jabbing harmonies from the left that add off-kilter accents to the rhythm. (When playing solo, and sometimes on ballads in trio, Powell deployed a fuller, more lush style derived from Art Tatum, with some of his friend and mentor Thelonious Monk's style mixed in.) He left surprisingly few official documents of his collaboration with Parker and Gillespie, with most coming after the style's foundation because of two recording bans. By then he had already become a leader in his own right and had begun recording a legacy of not just great pianism but also his unique compositional style.
But even though...
But even though...
- 9/27/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
"Are you kidding me, man?!" composer Angelo Badalamenti howls jokingly when Rolling Stone asks him what he thought of Twin Peaks, the TV series he scored in the early Nineties. "It was really off the wall. I thought it was either going to sink violently down the drain or, hopefully, capture the intrigue of enthusiastic people conversing by the office water cooler on a Monday morning."
12 Things We Learned from David Lynch's Talk at Bam
As it turned out, Twin Peaks was an instant hit when it premiered on April 8th,...
12 Things We Learned from David Lynch's Talk at Bam
As it turned out, Twin Peaks was an instant hit when it premiered on April 8th,...
- 7/25/2014
- Rollingstone.com
John Goodman has been such a staple in Coen brothers films that it's easy to forget it's been 13 years since he last appeared in one of their movies (2000's "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"). Now he's back in a small but memorable role in their latest, "Inside Llewyn Davis," in which he pops up as a colorful jazz musician who goes on an unlikely road trip with the titular aspiring folk singer (played by Oscar Isaac).
When I walked into the hotel room to interview Goodman, he told me to "park it there" on the couch while he sat in the chair by the window, and to "slap it [my recorder] there" on the table in front of him. He proceeded to talk about the backstory he created for his character, what it was like to work with Bob Dylan, and why he's taking a break from movies for a while.
Moviefone:...
When I walked into the hotel room to interview Goodman, he told me to "park it there" on the couch while he sat in the chair by the window, and to "slap it [my recorder] there" on the table in front of him. He proceeded to talk about the backstory he created for his character, what it was like to work with Bob Dylan, and why he's taking a break from movies for a while.
Moviefone:...
- 12/3/2013
- by Sharon Knolle
- Moviefone
Jazz pianist Borah Bergman died the same day as David Ware, but as he was a more obscure figure known mostly to hardcore devotees of the avant-garde, the news traveled more slowly. Famous or not, his talents and imagination were prodigious, as his peers knew. John Zorn called him "one of the greatest pianists of our time," and Peter Brötzmann declared, "Borah Bergman was my favorite pianist. One of the few pianists who can work with me at all." Chris Kelsey, both a saxophonist and a critic, proclaimed him "perhaps the most technically accomplished pianist in jazz -- and if he's not at the top, then he's certainly on a short list of two."
One of the things that us critics do, of course, is make comparisons, but there were no valid comparisons for this unique player, who created a stunningly distinctive technique unlike that of any other jazz pianist by working,...
One of the things that us critics do, of course, is make comparisons, but there were no valid comparisons for this unique player, who created a stunningly distinctive technique unlike that of any other jazz pianist by working,...
- 10/23/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
The Missing Person
Director: Noah Buschel
Written by Noah Buschel
USA, 2010
“I’ve never had any dealings with private detectives, Mr Rosow. I’ve seen them in Bogart films, though. Was that one of those kind of jokes? Those dry, sardonic detective jokes . . .”
I knew I was going to like Noah Buschel’s The Missing Person when the opening credits rolled over a shot of a boiling coffee pot, to the gentle accompaniment of a harmonica. It reminded me of private eye Paul Newman’s sad attempts to recycle yesterday’s coffee at the beginning of Harper. Though Buschel’s droll, stylish and well-acted detective drama does have a contemporary setting, this is just one of many reminders of earlier movies about maverick investigators.
Chicago private detective John Rosow (Michael Shannon) lives in a crummy apartment, right on top of the “L”. He’s woken at 5am by a call...
Director: Noah Buschel
Written by Noah Buschel
USA, 2010
“I’ve never had any dealings with private detectives, Mr Rosow. I’ve seen them in Bogart films, though. Was that one of those kind of jokes? Those dry, sardonic detective jokes . . .”
I knew I was going to like Noah Buschel’s The Missing Person when the opening credits rolled over a shot of a boiling coffee pot, to the gentle accompaniment of a harmonica. It reminded me of private eye Paul Newman’s sad attempts to recycle yesterday’s coffee at the beginning of Harper. Though Buschel’s droll, stylish and well-acted detective drama does have a contemporary setting, this is just one of many reminders of earlier movies about maverick investigators.
Chicago private detective John Rosow (Michael Shannon) lives in a crummy apartment, right on top of the “L”. He’s woken at 5am by a call...
- 6/7/2011
- by Susannah
- SoundOnSight
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.