A) Does anybody here have any idea what Jeff Russo's hopes and dreams are as a composer? I haven't heard any of his work (I know, I know, I really need to catch up on "Fargo"), but we really shouldn't judge composers based on employment they've been able to get so far. Don't blame anybody for getting work, even if that work doesn't allow him to show the sum total of his abilities and ambition.
B) The composition of the music for this series will be up to Jeff Russo. The approach he takes will not be. That's the producer's choice. Maybe they want it to sound like "Krull," maybe they want it to sound like "Interstellar," but Russo does not get to decide that.
If this is the Jeff Russo who's been scoring Fargo for TV, he can do some big thematic orchestral stuff.
Yes, its Jeff Russo, why some composers are named this way is a mystery. Its Like Johnny Williams many years ago.
Wait… you're confused that he uses a familiar form of his name? Are you thrown that it's not Thomas Hanks, James Carrey, Benjamin Affleck, and William Smith?
I know people who are really going to disagree with me here, but let's be honest. Except for Ron Jones, the music for the Star Trek franchise since TNG has not been very good. it's been mediocre at best IMHO.
Wait… you're confused that he uses a familiar form of his name? Are you thrown that it's not Thomas Hanks, James Carrey, Benjamin Affleck, and William Smith?
It looks like the composer Jeff Russo joined Twitter about six months after another guy named Jeff Russo, so @jeffrusso was not available. Or maybe "Erson" is his middle name.
From what I've heard from him by his FARGO stuff and that X-MEN spin-off series, I think it's a fuckin great choice and I can't wait to hear what he delivers, hand's bound or otherwise.
I really enjoyed his work on FARGO and I'm not normally into ambient scoring. So I think he deserves a chance with Star Trek. The composer is the last thing I would worry about based on everything I've seen regarding this series. Looks like a reboot of JJTrek!
Jeff Russo has provided some great music for the "Fargo" series and I've often been impressed with how melodic and at times bombastic the score can be. But, as Schiffy correctly pointed out, the direction of the score will be determined by the producers.
While I would bet against a sweeping symphonic score in general, I don't think the producers' choice not to go with a composer without a single major American credit indicates anything as to creative direction. This wasn't a "rejection," Avelange evidently produced it on spec. I could have done that too (if I could compose), and so could you. We could hardly label all of those efforts "rejections."
