It has been a crazy week here.  In what has to be one of the craziest out-of-the-blue situations, I was asked to teach a music appreciation course.  So I've been a bit preoccupied getting that together plus with the shorter week and lots of things happening I missed out on writing about two or three significant composers this week (classical and film).  On top of that there was a pile of review discs which I still have one of to hear.  Tis the season for accelerated score releases now that we head into the awards season.  Where did the summer go?!

There are a number of releases coming from films that appeared back at the Sundance festival and at subsequent festivals.  One of these, In the Shadow of the Moon, is a documentary of the astronauts who went to the moon and their conversation about that period of space exploration.  It has received raves from critics and viewers during its rollout over the past few days.  This marks the feature film scoring debut for Philip Sheppard.  Sheppard is a noted electric cello performer (he has played on a number of scores including Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).  The score is a fascinating blend of contemporary string writing with some minimalist additions, and in a couple instances a sound that is like Williams' Americana evocations.  There are bits and pieces that may sound like they take their departure musically from Horner (in a couple of brief segments), and there is even a moment where the orchestration has a decidely Baroque-feel cast in a kind of Thomas Newman scoring approach.  The score release, on Lakeshore, is quite engaging made more so by the exquisite playing of Sheppard in some key tracks, and a real sense of development and musical motion through the disc itself.  The score is for full orchestra with the addition in a couple of spots of a wordless chorus.  Truly a wonderful discovery.

Taking a turn for something on the other end of the spectrum, we have Lalo Schifrin's score for Rush Hour 3.  Most film reviewers have compared Schifrin's music here to his work on Enter the Dragon a 1973 Bruce Lee film (his last).  I relistened to that score and if you have not heard it, it's a great example of how to give the impression of ethnic orchestration without actually using any.  Schifrin's score then sounds like Schifrin's other gritty urban action music for other crime dramas.  It is a lot of fun.  He was asked to repeat that sound in the first Rush Hour and did for the most part.  The sequel shifted to a larger orchestral sound with some of the ethnic ideas returning.  One could have hoped that this time out Schifrin might have actually used the players and instruments for this new film, they are certainly more widely available than they were in the early 1970s.  But that is not the case. 

For Rush Hour 3 Schifrin returns to a sound that melds the awesome drumming ideas, popularized through his famous television themes (like Mission Impossible  and Mannix), and wonderful ostinato piano lines set in asymmetrical meters.  There are some new intriguing musical sounds (heard in his superb score for  last year’s Abominable) that show that he is adapting new ideas and experimenting still after all these years.  But what will strike most listeners is the utter, and welcome, lack of electronic drum machines.  (You will hear it a bit in the closing remix of the Rush Hour theme, and in an opening collaboration with Sallam Remi).  Fans of the series will also appreciate the way Schifrin weaves in the main theme which has remained constant since the original film.   

Schifrin tends to stick to traditional instrumentation hinting at the sound by how he orchestrates his music, adding special attacks for flutes that give the impression of an ethnic flute.  Deftly written mandolin/guitar/harp ideas coupled with some ethnic percussion and pitched gongs or xylophone are all stock in trade.  Mostly though the score just bubbles along taking a few breaths to relax and lend an air of mystery.  Some of the rhythmic variety, especially portions of “Hospital Gunfight,” sounds like a mix of Moncayo and the South American and mid-20^th century classical composers.  Even when this sound heads off to a a little French waltz in the following track, the gestures sound so effortless in this master’s hands.  This is Schifrin writing what he is good at, and let’s face it, this is not even in the same league as most of what passes for underscore these days.  This is music with a personal voice and character.  The only problem is we have heard a lot of this before. 

Still, Rush Hour 3 makes for a great listen, a bit more engaging than its predecessors, due in large part to some outstanding percussion writing.  The recording of the score itself is a bit drier as well, lending the score a sound closer to its 1970s predecessors.  Sometimes though the percussion is oddly recorded giving it a presence that is common for drum machines that are mixed in with out the natural ambience that occurs with live instruments.