RE: RARA-AVIS: Re: jazz & hard-boiled

Spurlock, Duane (Dspurlock@paulschultz.com)
Wed, 19 Nov 1997 10:30:04 -0500 Bill does a great job laying out the basics of the jazz/hardboiled
symbiosis. And I agree with Fred--_Cockfighter_ just wouldn't have
worked with a jazz soundtrack. (Of course, the main character barely
says a word through the whole film, so jazz might have been far too lush
for the movie's atmosphere.)

>Fred Willard wrote:
>
>Wayne Wang used punk rock to great effect in his film 'Slam Dance"
>(A favorite of mine).
>. . .
>
>"Get Shorty" used a jazz with a lot of kinship to Memphis blues.
>

And William Friedkin's "To Live and Die in L.A." used a pop-music type
score by Wang Chung, influenced, perhaps, by Michael Mann's use of pop
music in "Miami Vice." (I don't recall whether the movie or the TV
series appeared first.)

On a side note (accidental pun there): Louis Armstrong didn't like bebop
and thought it was just a passing fad. Likewise, hardboiled/detective
fiction in this century has been castigated for a long time by the
literary elite because of its roots in pulp fiction. Well, bebop has had
a lasting influence on jazz and other music styles, and the pulp masters
of detective fiction are now highly regarded for their works. Funny how
time changes things.--Duane
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