Hmmm....I think a PI is not just jazz, but R&B, country,
rock'n'roll, and
no doubt soon rap and techno. A PI should be a "man of his
time."
Every age seems to have its own sound. And while jazz goes
with those old
noir flicks so well, jazz might sound pretty anachronistic
(is that a
word?) used to score a flick about crack gangs. Just as you
wouldn't accept
a fedora and trenchcoat on a dick now, you probably wouldn't
accept
fifty-year old jazz. Oh course, I'm younger than some of you
guys, so what
do I know? The use of Dell Shannon's revised Runaway in
Michael Mann's
Crime Story was dead on. I think of the fight in Mean Streets
and -what was
it?-Please, Mr. Postman? The coda to Clapton's Layla as the
bodies pile up
in Wise Guys. And Shaft! The theme and entire score were
better at moving
the story along than the plot! And Hank William's
angst-filled "I'm So
Lonesome I Could Cry" in The Last Picture Show. The jump
blues and
gospel-boogie of Devil In a Blue Dress. And I just love some
of Ry Cooder's
chicken-pluckin' guitar pickin' on any number of flicks.
Sure, jazz works
great, but so do other types of music.
I'm looking forward to nabbing a copy of that Rhino CD,
though. And any of
you jazz guys should check out John Zorn's Spillane, a
twenty-odd minute
performance piece (some of it very odd) of bits of jazz,
spoken word, sound
effects and who knows what else. As Mike Hammer might say,
"What is this
shit?"
One more thing. Fred, since we got you on the line, what did
you think of
OJ as Michael Brennen in the TV movie? Were you disappointed?
Thrilled?
Puzzled?
Kevin Smith
Weg Guy for The Thrilling Detective Web Site
For info, mailto:kvnsmith@total.net
"You wanna talk to me, go ahead and talk"
Bob Dylan, via Sam Spade
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