Increasingly, hard-boiled is thought of as a period piece
and
identified by it's cliches. Also, the association with jazz
does, as
Bill points out mainly apply to urban environments. Its hard
to see
Cock Fighter with a jazz sound track.
(Although, in fairness, this thread has been about PI shows
and their
music. I'm just trying to broaden it a bit here.)
Wayne Wang used punk rock to great effect in his film 'Slam
Dance"
(A favorite of mine).
Both "Pulp Fiction" and "Casino" had very eclectic sound
tracks of
popular music.
"Get Shorty" used a jazz with a lot of kinship to Memphis
blues.
Although, to agree with the original thread, one of my all
time
favorites was the cool jazz of the television show, "Peter
Gunn."
Fred
> Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 23:42:11 -0600 (CST)
> To: rara-avis@icomm.ca
> From: billha@ionet.net (Bill Hagen)
> Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: jazz &
hard-boiled
> Reply-to: rara-avis@icomm.ca
> Can I rename a strand from the Mike Hammer thread?
How about "Jazz &
> hard-boiled"?
>
> Recently, Laurent wrote, "What are in your opinion
the best soundtracks
> for PI shows ? And why does a certain style of jazz
work so well ? Is it
> just a period feel ?"
>
> I'm less interested in tv shows than the last two
questions. Perhaps, if
> some others have interest, we could reflect on the
role of music, certain
> kinds of music, or musicians in our favorite hard-
boiled novels and films?
>
> Two thoughts: jazz, as separated somewhat from the
blues, has historically
> been an urban music; furthermore it has been
associated with bars,
> speakeasys, clubs, red light districts (Storyville)
where crime and
> criminals thrive. Hence the gangster films of the
30s, later to become
> gangbusters' films, often had scenes in a club or
speakeasy which had a
> show, often featuring a jazz band. Coppola's "Cotton
Club," in a sense,
> paid homage to these films. Later, as hard boiled
fiction "matured" in the
> 40s, film noir became a style and at about the same
time, bebop or "cool"
> jazz played by combos became voguish. "The Phantom
Lady" (1944), from
> Cornell Woolrich's novel, has both big band and small
combo scenes, with
> Elisha Cook, Jr., memorably, as a drummer.
>
> My second thought along these lines is that the
"cool" or minor key jazz of
> the 40s-50s, with its isolated sax or trumpet solos,
formed an ideal
> compliment for the solitary characters of the films
made from hard boiled
> fiction. Certain singers could create this solitude
too, Billie Holiday
> for instance. I like Duane's idea that spontaneous
improvisation also fits
> with the improvised, instinctive actions of
hard-boiled protagonists. (And
> band music, of necessity, always has a more
"organized" feel to it, even
> when there are solos.)
>
> I remember at least two noir titles from the 50s
where the jazz score was
> inseparable from the action: "Odds Against Tomorrow"
(John Lewis score) and
> "The Man With the Golden Arm" (Elmer Bernstein
score). Mancini brought
> the big band back into noir-PI (if it had ever left),
espec. with his theme
> for tv's "Peter Gunn," but at that point I think
we're getting a bit
> soft-boiled and the music just driving big beat
stuff, adaptable to any
> adventure.
>
> Hope I haven't squashed the topic for everyone. (One
note leads to
> another.) Others' thoughts on jazz, etc. in
hard-boiled fiction or film?
>
>
>
> #
> # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to
majordomo@icomm.ca.
> # The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.
>
------------------------------
Down on Ponce by Fred Willard
fwillard@mindspring.com
http://fwillard.home.mindspring.com/
#
# To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to
majordomo@icomm.ca.
# The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.