During my slow-paced explorations into vintage Japanese soundtracks, I have been periodically discovering some composers whom I was unaware of for decades. Almost all of such are by now deceased. Thanks to Ark Square, I noticed Horrors of Malformed Men by Hajime Kaburagi. From what little I've found online, Kaburagi's date of birth is listed as being 1926 ... with no date of death (which makes him 94, if still with us).
He has well over 200 credits in a 40-year span between 1956 and 1995, but the sketchy biographical information on him likely needs further verification before entering his name into this thread ...
Thank you for the tip, Zardoz. I'll add him.
Of course, now comes one of the most painful 'list removals' yet; namely that of Ennio Morricone.
Burt Bacharach has a new EP coming out on July 31st titled "Blue Umbrella". He's teamed with Daniel Tashian on 5 new songs. It's Bacharach's first release in 15 years.
born July 23, 1928. Son of Spike Lee and scored a couple of his early movies She's Gotta Have It (1986), Do the Right Thing (1989)
Probably not active though his neighbors in a Brooklyn apartment block might tell us different as there were issues of continual music being played at all hours a few years back.
But the slightly younger Mikis Theodorakis is celebrating his 95th birthday today.
Hi, Thor.
I've just learnt that another composer will be attaining age 95 (on August 19th) - Japanese composer Michiaki "Chumei" Watanabe (b. 1925). I am aware of him only via the Yokai monsters trilogy, but he scored over 100 films. Appears he concentrated on television from mid-'80s onwards. Most recent IMDB credit is from 2012.
Also, I recently got a Euro-Western soundtrack by Amedeo Tommasi. He was born December 1st, 1935, so by end of this year he can be in this thread.
Duane Tatro (b. 1927) is still with us. He is not a 'film' composer, per se, but he wrote music for television between '67 & '87. Eligible for this thread, is he?
I've been looking for any interviews with the two oldest gents on the list - Johnny Pate and William Kraft. The most recent Pate interview I found is 7 years old, but there is this interview with Kraft from July this year. Still going strong at 97 years old, with a much younger wife (not too thrilled with the interviewer here, but you can disregard that for a moment):
Duane Tatro (b. 1927) is still with us. He is not a 'film' composer, per se, but he wrote music for television between '67 & '87. Eligible for this thread, is he?
Duane Tatro IS on the list (born 1927). Unfortunately Thor, you have to remove him becuase he died a few months ago when you were on holiday. We had a few threads about him which were bumped.
Which film composers are still around, age 85 and above? And which of them are still active? He or she MUST have turned 85 to qualify, no young whippersnappers below that age!
Born 1935:
???
Hi, Thor
Next week, French composer & clarinetist Michel Portal will turn 85.
"Springer composed and conducted six motion picture scores in Hollywood, including Kill a Dragon (1967); I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (1968); More Dead Than Alive (1969); Impasse (1969); Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970); and Wicked, Wicked (1973).
"He also scored episodes of the television series Gunsmoke, Mannix, Then Came Bronson, and Medical Center, and composed the theme for Crosswits, a 1970s game show."
And here he is playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata last month.
Laurence Rosenthal -- retired? Jan Krenz -- retired? David Lee -- retired? Aleksandr Zatsepin -- retired? Hajime Kaburagi -- retired Philip Springer -- retired Alexandr Zatsepin -- retired
