Film music fans may recall Terence Blanchard’s 1999 album, Jazz in Film for its interesting program of film themes treated to semi-improvisational noir-like musical explorations of music that had already a jazz-template from which to work. This new release from Pirouet Records, Germany, takes its title from a Morricone score, Cinema Paradiso, and features tenor saxophonist Jason Seizer in an equally intriguing program whose jazz roots may be a little sketchier. Seizer’s combo here features pianist Pablo Held with bassist Matthias Pichler and Fabian Arends on drums. The arrangements are not credited here, but they do take a page from the noir-like styles of Blanchard’s album with a Stan Getz-like style that suggests smoky backrooms.
This impression is set as the album begins with “Carlotta’s Portrait” from Herrmann’s Vertigo score. Though a seeming unlikely candidate for improvisation, this is a rather convincing atmospheric take on the music. The title track, from Morricone’s 1988 score, has a more relaxed approach that unfolds over almost 8 minutes of dreamy playing. One of the marks of this album, and also why it is so interesting, is that Seizer has chosen some equally unique music alongside some of the more familiar pieces. Among the former of these is Roque Banos’ score for The Machinist (2004) in the dark exploration of “Steve’s Care.” The primary theme from On the Waterfront (1954) picks up the pace just slightly as the melody here allows for interesting interpretations and accents.
Stanley Myers’ beautiful “Cavatina” from The Deer Hunter undergoes a bit more deconstruction and re-emphasis of the familiar melody with interesting harmonic shifts and a chance for a central improvisational area for the combo. Another unusual choice, but one perfectly suited for this setting is “Jungle Beat.” This less familiar musical exploration from The Jungle Book might seem an unlikely first choice from George Bruns’ score, but it works very well here and allows for a slightly faster-paced interlude from the dreamier opening free jazz improvisational ideas. The same approach also makes “Children’s Games” from Desplat’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button a great jazz number again allowing perhaps greater room for flexibility in a lesser known film score.
The last two selections are worlds apart in their respective film’s genres, but much closer than one might think. A double take was in order when reading the track listing to see Jerry Goldsmith’s “Alien Main Theme” as the penultimate track. How would or could one translate this intriguing slowly unfolding melody to both make it recognizable but also allow room for Seizer’s exploration of the music. Well, the result here is quite compelling as the harmonic ideas of Goldsmith’s theme are easily stripped down as elongated jazz harmonies. His wavering melody works very well to launch into slight improvisational ideas and somehow the mysterious character of the music itself is not lost. The choice of the “Love Theme” from Alex Noth’s Spartacus score then becomes all the better as parallels can be closely made in the way the same expanded harmonic palette created this rich melody.
Cinema Paradiso is not an album for film score purists. But, Jason Seizer’s sensitive and languid approach to this music shows his own appreciation for their sources. The result is some very fascinating musical interpretations perfect for unwinding after a late night at the movies.
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