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Posted: |
Mar 19, 2020 - 10:01 AM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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Oh, and a slightly belated birthday to the great Q - he turned 87 less than a week ago.
By coincidence, I had just finished watching a documentary about him on Netflix. Some of it was great. To see recent footage of him at the... what museum was that...? - which had all these collections of suits and instruments in glass cases, looking at the names of to whom they belonged, and who had influenced him, or who he had influenced - Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Prince - and he's just sitting there in his wheelchair, shaking his head and gasping sadly, "They're all gone. Beautiful people." It was quite emotional to see. But some of the documentary seemed clumsy. There were voiceovers ONLY for everybody (Sinatra, Henry Mancini, his ex-wives), and the whole thing seemed VERY light on the darker side of Q's life. He does say at one point that he wished he had been a better husband, but that's about it. I suppose it was to be expected since it was co-written by one of his daughters.
Much better was one of the documentaries up on YouTube (BBC?), which included filmed interviews with the likes of Michel Legrand and many giants of jazz, rap, hip-hop. A lot more actual footage too of his early days as a trumpeter in Lionel Hampton's band, and much more focussed on the broader canvas of his personality. Good interviews with Q himself, talking about how EVERYBODY took drugs if you were on the road in the '50s, stuff like that.
Actually, after seeing those two documentaries, I was actually surprised that he is still alive. So many close calls throughout his life. There's one striking moment in the Netflix doc where he's on stage just about to announce something, then seems to stagger, mutter "Oh man" or something, and then he almost collapses before people rush to his aid.
His film career is covered better in the second documentary. Michael Caine appears quite frequently, but neither of the two I saw is really for film music fans exclusively. And both mention that after taking two years to write THE COLOR PURPLE, he was mentally and physically exhausted. No mention of the people who helped him on that production. Still, great to see at least some moments of him at work on THE PAWNBROKER (even though they're playing THE DEADLY AFFAIR behind it!) - God, I LOVE Quincy Jones. THE PAWNBROKER, THE SLENDER THREAD, IN COLD BLOOD, THE SPLIT, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT...
Still, I think there must be a better documentary out there - or waiting to be made - about his life and career. Anyone know of any?
Anyway, Q is THE DUDE! Happy 87th birthday to him! Amazing guy.
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Thanks Graham, thanks for the info! I've seen the Netflix docu, but not the youtube so I'll jump right on that.
Quincy Jones has got to be one of the most interesting musicians of the latter half of the last century. He excelled as a big band leader during a time when big bands were a failing venture--for roughly a 10 year period, mid-fifties through mid-sixties. He excelled as a film composer, from mid-sixties til mid-seventies. And continually re-invented himself--recording artist, label vp, big band leader, jazz arranger, film composer, recording producer, and so on. In today's parlance he was probably the only person who had Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Michael Jackson, and Miles Davis on speed dial.
Personal favorite albums:
Walking in Space
Gula Matari
In Cold Blood
In the Heat of the Night
Mackenna's Gold
The Deadly Affair
and so many more.
Great soundtrack lps that never made it to CD:
Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice
cactus Flower
The Hot Rock
In Cold Blood I think is one of the all-time great scores. In the Heat of the Night has one of my favorite film songs and the scores is so inventive, with one of the most unusual instrumentation of any film score.
Walking in Space from 1969 was Quincy's return as a solo artist. One of the best blends of straightforward big band jazz with contemporary elements--electric pianos, basses, and guitars, soulful background voices, gospel hits, a film theme (by Johnny Mandel), and themes from "Hair." One of the first albums I ever owned.
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Posted: |
Mar 19, 2020 - 3:30 PM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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Kind of surprised that you gave the QUINCY film such a high rating, Thor. But thinking back, I was captivated by it throughout. Perhaps I was wanting a "hard facts" documentary, but I appreciate now that it was more kind of trying to get to the essence of the man, without resorting to dates and a chronological structure. It's semi-successful for me in that respect. I did feel that I was almost in his company when it spent long, lingering minutes over his hobbling around and touching pieces of African sculpture etc. So yes, it did sort of give me an insight into what the man might be like, but only in a similar way as if I'd met him at a party. I suppose it's good to have to join the dots yourself. Well actually I'm still in two minds about that. I mean, co-written and co-directed by one of his daughters? Yeah, she knows him better than we do, but she didn't let us in on much, unless we were just meant to be the fly on the wall, drawing our own conclusions. My conclusion is that he is/was a sex god, unfaithful by nature but full of the fascinating contradictions that make us all (or most of us) human.
I admire him so much for his ability to change and yet be true to himself. I don't see any fakery in his change from jazz performer to composer (film and otherwise) to producer and headhunter, even if I actively dislike much of the songs he did with Michael Jackson and, later, his association with hip-hop and rap stars.
As far as film scores go, I think he was, for a time, one of the best and most innovative. What an incredible mind, what an innovator. Just because it springs to mind right now, I have to say that I've always thought that IRONSIDE was one of the most brilliantly-conceived themes ever.
villa - Let us know what you think of the QUINCY film we're talking about, and the other docus on the Tube. I see there are a few things in pre-production (according to the imdb) involving him, but I don't know if it'll be just archive footage.
Long live Q, the DUDE! In many ways a genius. There's more to him than the coolest, snazziest-looking 87-year-old on the block.
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On Criterion's bluray of In Cold Blood there is a wonderful commentary on the music by noted film and jazz historian Gary Giddens. Well worth a look.
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Perhaps Graham should try the documentary feature LISTEN UP - THE LIVES OF QUINCY JONES, which had a very successful arthouse release in 1990.
I know of two very worthwhile short programs on Jones as film composer that could be difficult to access today. First is "Reflections of a Music Maker," one of possibly multiple promotional featurettes that were produced for MACKENNA'S GOLD (1969). It was one of the many 5-to-10-minute shorts created to hype films issued from the 1950s to the early '80s, but which only infrequently end up included on those features' homevideo releases. If the MACKENNA disc contains this Jones featurette, enthusiasts will enjoy it. But since I've never read mention of it, I'd guess that -- as usual -- the short's not offered there.
The other is an approximately 55-minute program from 1972 produced by Broadcast Music Inc., titled THE SCORE (not to be confused with the more recent documentary SCORE). I don't know whether this BMI film was ever televised, and I doubt it was released on video; but BMI offered it for (free) 16mm rental during the 1970s. It was a look at separate stages of film scoring, each discussed/demonstrated by a different veteran composer. I haven't seen the full film since 1974, but I recall that along with segments on Lalo Schifrin and Hugo Friedhofer, there were sections on Quincy Jones discussing the struggle to determine his approach to IN COLD BLOOD, and Jerry Goldsmith rehearsing and recording cues from THE MEPHISTO WALTZ. Goldsmith's terrific concluding segment has been discussed in a different FSM thread here, after its being posted on YouTube; but the Jones portion was an appealing attempt to explain the creative process.
But now that you know by title what these short films are, don't waste a chance you might ever get to see either someday.
By the way, I admit to not being a great lover of jazz -- yet Jones's joyous THE HOT ROCK is one of my favorites of his film scores. But for any who generally appreciate jazz more than I do, I identify Jones's 1963 album "Quincy Jones Plays Hip Hits" as easily my favorite big-band album. It's mostly big-band covers of 1950s-early '60s numbers, with only two film themes by other composers, including Elmer Bernstein's WALK ON THE WILD SIDE. But Jones's tenor-sax arrangement of Ernest Gold's EXODUS theme remains my personal favorite rendition of that melody. The Mercury label reissued this album years ago in Japan on both vinyl and CD.
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There is also a short feature on Quincy on the dvd of In the Heat of the Night with Jon Bulingame interviewing him.
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Thanks, villagardens, for mentioning that Jones interview on the later DVD of IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT. I bought only the original release and so never knew about that.
Graham, my limited interest in jazz has been more awkward for me at times than it would be for most people. Whatever level of obsessive-compulsive disorder I might have (never officially tested) is likely the reason I'd usually rather listen to original film tracks in mono than overblown digital re-recordings; discrepancies in performance stand out to me. Equally, the tendency of many jazz covers to wander improvisationally away from an original's melodic line is a big reason why I don't embrace the form. Usually, that is: I already knew the EXODUS theme before my parents bought that Quincy "Hip Hits" LP in my childhood -- but I long ago ingested Jones's reconceived arrangement of EXODUS as an adored, entirely separate melody that's a thing apart from its source. (Without asking permission, I took that "Hip Hits" album with me when I finally moved out of my parents' home. At least I returned it to my mother after finding the Japanese reissue; and eventually copied the reissue CD and its booklet/tray for her!)
What was awkward for me was growing up in a 1960s black American neighborhood, knowing that melody and harmony were much more important to me than were rhythm & blues, let alone my loving film music that interested nobody I knew until I was 12. Even worse, my own father couldn't relate to me when I was young, in part because he was a former semi-professional jazz saxophonist cursed with a son who didn't appreciate jazz. (I have my own taste, though none of my father's musical talent.) But even though I think I've told this on the Intrada forum, here's a story I'll share in this Quincy Jones thread.
My father enlisted in the U.S. Navy in World War II right after his 17th birthday. He didn't know that at that point, America's segregated Navy restricted African-Americans to kitchen and garbage duty aboard vessels. However, my father escaped the same fate when he listed music as a "special skill" to his Recruitment Center interviewer. When asked whether he could sight-read, play by ear, AND owned his own instrument, he was told to go get his saxophone and bring it back there. My father returned to find two sailors there waiting to audition him, with and without sheet music. He was signed, then shipped to Hawaii, where he spent the balance of the war playing in a Navy big band for officers' parties! Except for the band at the start of IN HARM'S WAY being all white, that depicted my father's military career.
Now I'll jump ahead more than 30 years: When I had seen THE HOT ROCK already, I went again with my mother because I knew she'd enjoy it, too. But a few years after that I showed it to my father at home, sure that the soundtrack would give him an even better time. Some members here already know that with the closing titles of HOT ROCK, Quincy Jones secured onscreen credit for the score's musicians for the first time in a film. (It's certainly why from multiple viewings I knew the players by name.) Yet my father shocked me when only a few notes into the main title's sax solo, he casually said: "That's Gerry Mulligan." I hadn't understood until then what an artist my father was!
Graham, when you said you enjoyed Quincy's film scores up to about THE HOT ROCK, I hope you remember that that was not long before he backed away from movies; THE COLOR PURPLE didn't come until 13 years later. But as wonderful as his scores for THE SPLIT, THE ITALIAN JOB, THE LOST MAN, $, HOT ROCK, and THE GETAWAY are individually, you can see that MACKENNA'S GOLD wasn't enough to spare him from Hollywood typecasting. Jones's film career was stellar and contributed a real freshness to the era -- but I understand his ultimately wanting a lot more than urban heists and Sidney Poitier. Yeah, he got a little variety in assignments (I've never forgotten his fun, opening-title treatment of Handel's "Messiah" for BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE); but I could see why he returned to commercial music, satisfied to have put pictures behind him.
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Sorry for my indiscretion, Graham! But I'm also glad you had better things to do at age nine.
By the way, I'll tell you that I particularly love THE ITALIAN JOB and $ (the latter another rival for being my favorite Jones score, actually) as well as Barry's BODY HEAT and Paul Grabowski's LAST ORDERS (partly because I saw that wonderful film first). As a hardcore Goldsmith fan, I do adore THE RUSSIA HOUSE and certain cues in A STEP OUT OF LINE. Yet the (improvised?) end title for THE EDGE does nothing for me.
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Posted: |
Mar 23, 2020 - 2:46 PM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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By the way, I'll tell you that I particularly love THE ITALIAN JOB and $ (the latter another rival for being my favorite Jones score, actually) as well as Barry's BODY HEAT and Paul Grabowski's LAST ORDERS (partly because I saw that wonderful film first). As a hardcore Goldsmith fan, I do adore THE RUSSIA HOUSE and certain cues in A STEP OUT OF LINE. Yet the (improvised?) end title for THE EDGE does nothing for me.
At the risk of going a bit off-Q-topic, you've mentioned a few of my favourite scores there. Neither of those Quincy Jones scores are among my favourites though. I loved the film LAST ORDERS and really liked the music, although I never got around to getting the CD. As regards Goldsmith, THE RUSSIA HOUSE is (in my opinion, and one that nobody else on the planet shares) his last truly great score. And great though it is, it still isn't a patch on A STEP OUT OF LINE. There's a source music track - some party music I think - which is quite unlike anything else JG ever did. I consider the whole score a complete masterpiece from beginning to end, with its inventiveness and mixture of styles. And BROTHERHOOD OF THE BELL is the perfect companion piece. Brilliant pairing of scores from Intrada. THE EDGE does very little for me either, neither the jazzy End Titles nor the score itself.
Funny how we moved totally away from Quincy Jones there. It's his thread (no it isn't, it's mine). Ah but you touched on something that might make an interesting topic - Musicians whose style you can recognize. Your dad got Gerry Mulligan for THE HOT ROCK. I - on a very lucky guess - got Mulligan for the wonderful End Titles of THE FINAL PROGRAMME. I can usually tell Dave Grusin's style of playing (like on THE LONG GOODBYE), and sometimes Artie Kane (like on Oliver Nelson's ZIGZAG), but it's hard to be sure when there's no way to find out who the artist really is, and far too easy when you already know beforehand.
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With this thread in mind, tonight I dug out an old VHS tape I have of the BMI film The Score, just to pay particular attention to the Quincy Jones segment. He is shown at his expensive-looking house, in a large room which contains a work desk with a Moviola, and an adjacent keyboard. In the middle of the room is a pool table. He is working on the music for the film In Cold Blood and it is clear that the complexities of the film's plot are weighing heavily on his mind as he writes. He uses a fountain pen to get the notes down, moving occasionally to check the scene on the Moviola.
All to do with the creative process, I imagine. He lights a cigarette. Moves to the pool table to throw a ball or two. His voice-over sounds kinda "hip" - it was the late sixties after all. His sequence concludes with a shot of him walking round his swimming pool outside the house, lighting another cigarette and perhaps waiting for the next muse to strike...
(Apart from the Quincy bit now) - With the other featured composers, an ageing Hugo Friedhofer is the only one who doesn't light up, tobacco-wise. Earle Hagen puffs away on his pipe, and Lalo Schifrin does too. In the Goldsmith/Mephisto Waltz material, he has a cigarette in his hand as he conducts. Arthur Morton and Lionel Newman in the background were also, it looks like, cigarette smokers. (Sorry, folks, I have to admit I never "got the concept" when it came to tobacco addiction.)
James.
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