Soundtrack of the American Soldier *****

LAURA KARPMAN/MAX STEINER/MICHAEL GIACCHINO/GEORGE M. COHAN/JOSHUA MOSHIER/JOSEPH DEBEASI/JOHN WILLIAMS/JEFF BEAL/JERRY GOLDSMITH/ELMER BERNSTEIN/IRVING BERLIN/MARK ISHAM

Navona Records NV 6297

13 tracks – 69:13

Also available as a digital download.

The US Army Field Band headed to Skywalker Sound in 2018 to record a host of pieces that focused on celebrating the stories of those men and women who enter the line of duty.  Their director Col. Jim R. Keene has selected a variety of music from a host of media composers (film, television, musical theater, video games) for this compelling collection of music.

There are several original works commissioned for the ensemble like the opening “Brass Ceiling” celebrating General Ann Dunwoody by Laura Karpman (Lovecraft Country).  “A Portrait of Honor” is a new work by television composer Joshua Moshier (Baskets).   Some significant arrangements for wind ensemble are also part of the program.  Chief among them are the new Paul Lavender arrangements of John Williams march from 1941 and “The Jedi Steps and Finale” from The Force Awakens (having played both these in concert, it is quite easy to say these performances are spot on).  Tim Simonec provides two unique suites.  The first is for Giacchino’s 1999 video game score for Medal of Honor (which Simonec also conducted in the original recording sessions).  The other is an arrangement that blends the themes from Patton and The Great Escape.  Fun new arrangements by the army’s own Master Sgt. Adrian Hernandez of Steiner’s “Overture” to Sergeant York.  Of course, there are some folk tune quotes in that score, themselves often grist for band suites.  The “American Sniper Suite” features music from the Eastwood film composed by Joseph Debeasi which will be a nice surprise for listeners as well.   Composer Jeff Beal also adapted an excellent 8-minute suite of music from the series The Long Road Home.  Some may not be aware that Mark Isham wrote the music used for recruiting advertisements from 2006-1018.  His “Army Strong” is performed here in an arrangement by Brad Dechter.  Throw in some lighter classic favorites like “Over There”, “The Star Spangled Banner” (an arrangement by Hernandez); and Paul Lavender transcription of “God Bless America” from the original Boston Pops arrangement by Glenn Osser.

The performances are clean and crisp and the sound captures the ensemble well.  It should because this was recorded meticulously at the Skywalker Sound Studio in Marin County.  As if a well-recorded performance was not enough, the release also includes a Blu-Ray recording that has been missed in immersive Dolby Atmos 5.1 Stereo sound.  While purists may find band arrangements of film music a bit off the beaten track, those who have grown up playing in such ensembles will certainly want to grab this release.  Those who also want to explore some of these great musical works will also appreciate the newer works presented in this excellent release.

The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of winners for excellence in musical scoring in 2016, in the 2016 IFMCA Awards.

The award for Score of the Year goes to Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson for his work on the critically acclaimed science fiction drama “Arrival,” directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. IFMCA member Jon Broxton said that “Jóhannsson’s approach to solving the film’s musical problems [is] absolutely fascinating, and the way he was able to musically convey some of the film’s more challenging cerebral ideas involving language and communication is astonishingly accomplished,” while IFMCA member Daniel Schweiger said that Jóhannsson “brilliantly captures both a sense of wonder and fear with beholding the mind-boggling, verbally-scrambled unknown, as whale cry motifs join with alternately moaning and chattering voices, backed by a strong orchestral sound that serves as a powerful universal musical translator in a way that’s both harmonically understandable, and profoundly strange.” This is the first IFMCA Award win of Jóhannsson’s career, him having previously been nominated for Best Original Score for a Drama Film for “The Theory of Everything” in 2014.

Composer Michael Giacchino is named Composer of the Year for the second year in a row, having written four outstanding works spanning multiple genres in the past year. His work in 2016 included the action-packed Marvel comic book fantasy film “Doctor Strange,” the socially aware Disney animated film “Zootopia,” the third installment of the rebooted Star Trek franchise “Star Trek Beyond,” and the score for the first of the Star Wars spinoff films, “Rogue One”. IFMCA member James Southall called “Rogue One” “a very impressive achievement indeed,” while IFMCA member Christian Clemmensen described “Doctor Strange” as “a mystical, optimistic, and smart superhero score with an alluring primary identity and generally excellent combination of electronic and ethnic accents with standard orchestral and choral elements.” This marks the fourth time Giacchino has been named Composer of the Year, following his previous wins in 2004, 2009, and 2015.

Composer Justin Hurwitz won three awards – Breakthrough Composer of the Year, Best Original Score for a Comedy Film, and Film Music Composition of the Year – all for his work on the massively popular and critically acclaimed musical comedy-drama “La La Land” directed by Damian Chazelle, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. “La La Land” is only the second full theatrical score of Hurwitz’s career, and for it he wrote a jazz-inspired orchestral score, and half a dozen original songs (with songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul), the melodies of which flow through the majority of the underscore. IFMCA member Mihnea Manduteanu called “La La Land” “delightful and playful” and claimed that it captures “what it means to fall in love, to play, to dream,” while IFMCA member Jon Broxton heralded the score as “a masterpiece”.

The various other genre awards are won by Abel Korzeniowski for his music for the darkly stylish revenge drama “Nocturnal Animals”; Christopher Young for his wildly exciting action score for the Chinese historical adventure “Xi You Ji Zhi: Sun Wukong San Da Baigu Jing [The Monkey King 2]”; James Newton Howard for his score for lush and whimsical fantasy score for the Harry Potter prequel “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”; Laurent Perez del Mar for his evocative, emotional music for the French animated film “La Tortue Rouge [The Red Turtle]”; and Panu Aaltio for his wonderful music for the Finnish nature documentary “Järven Tarina [Tale of a Lake]”.

In the non-film categories, composer Ramin Djawadi wins the award for Best Original Score for a Television Series for his magnificent work on the sixth series of the critically acclaimed HBO fantasy drama “Game of Thrones,” while composer Austin Wintory wins the award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for the second year in a row, this time for his work on the meditative, dream-like undersea adventure game “Abzû”.

Oakland, California-based Intrada Records is named Film Music Record Label of the Year in recognition of their ongoing excellence in restoring and releasing the most beloved film scores of the past. They were also honored with the award for Best New Archival Release - Re-Release or Re-Recording of an Existing Score for their lavish expanded release of Elmer Bernstein’s classic 1956 score “The Ten Commandments,” which IFMCA member Craig Lysy described as “one of the finest [scores] ever written and a glorious example of Golden Age film scores”. Finally, Burbank, California-based La La Land Record and producer Mike Matessino wins the award for Best New Archival Release – Compilation for their superb re-mastered release of “The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection”, a compilation of the timeless 1990s dinosaur adventure scores “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World”.

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COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS

FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
•    Arrival, music by Jóhann Jóhannsson

COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
•    Michael Giacchino

BREAKTHROUGH COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
•    Justin Hurwitz

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
•     “Epilogue” from La La Land, music by Justin Hurwitz

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM
•    Nocturnal Animals, music by Abel Korzeniowski

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM
•    La La Land, music by Justin Hurwitz

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM
•    Xi You Ji Zhi: Sun Wukong San Da Baigu Jing [The Monkey King 2], music by Christopher Young

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR FILM
•    Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, music by James Newton Howard

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE
•    La Tortue Rouge [The Red Turtle], music by Laurent Perez del Mar

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY
•    Järven Tarina [Tale of a Lake], music by Panu Aaltio

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A TELEVISION SERIES
•    Game of Thrones, music by Ramin Djawadi

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
•    Abzû, music by Austin Wintory

BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE - RE-RELEASE OR RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE
•    The Ten Commandments, music by Elmer Bernstein; album produced by Douglass Fake and Roger Feigelson; liner notes by Frank K. De Wald; album art direction by Joe Sikoryak (Intrada)

BEST NEW ARCHIVAL RELEASE - COMPILATION
•    The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection, music by John Williams; album produced by Mike Matessino; liner notes by Mike Matessino; album art direction by Jim Titus (La-La Land)

FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR
•    Intrada Records, Douglass Fake, Roger Feigelson