Anatomy of a Murder: From the Soundtrack of the Motion Picture (1959 Film) [Extra tracks] [Soundtrack]

anatomy of a murder: from the soundtrack of the motion picture (1959 film) [extra tracks] [soundtrack]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
"I like playing with music and its relationship to the theater, particularly in the supporting role," Duke Ellington remarked in an audio interview from the reissue of his splendid soundtrack to Otto Preminger's 1959 film, Anatomy of a Murder. "Doing the score for a picture really calls for being along with the action and absorbing all of the atmosphere [of] everything taking place in the picture." But as this CD--which includes 14 alternate takes--shows, the syncopated swing and soul Ellington and his men lay down steal the show. Just as Preminger moves and shapes his actor's characters, Ellington creates musical motifs that bring out the best in his musicians as well as the story line. The orchestra sets the pace with the fanfare-ish "Main Title," with tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves's candlelight tones. Johnny Hodges's upwardly mobile alto-sax cries signify the femme-fatale, hip-swinging rhythms of "Flirtibird," which segues into the finger-snapped "Way Early Subtone," with Russell Procope's cool clarinet. Other standouts include the ballad "Low Key Lightly," costarring Ellington's regal piano and Ray Nance's serenading violin, while "Midnight Indigo" is harmonically haunted by Ellington's crystalline celesta chords, Billy Strayhorn's telepathic piano comping, and Harry Carney's soul-stirring baritone sax. The insightful and authoritative notes by historian Phil Schaap and Wynton Marsalis, along with the alternate and rehearsal takes, give the listener a comprehensive overview into the movie's themes of murder, romance, and intrigue that Duke Ellington so brilliantly augmented and illuminated through jazz improvisation, big-band orchestration, and the blues. --Eugene Holley Jr.

From Jazziz
Rarely has such sumptuous jazz been married to a film soundtrack. Written in 1959 for director Otto Preminger's courtroom drama of sex and jealousy, the burnished glow of Ellington's score is undeniably erotic - indeed, the powerfully charged, slow burn of the second track here, "Flirtibird," is among Ellington's most sensual recordings.

Classic film scores build on recurring motifs that identify characters and situations, amplifying their existence for the viewer through the sense of hearing. The "flirty bird" of the title - Lee Remick's Laura Manion - is evoked early on by a six-note phrase, with emotional hues that undergo dramatic changes every time it reappears along the score's course. "Way Early Subtone" expands on that phrase in a passionate, extended coda that tries to rekindle the flame; by the time of "Almost Cried," the melody has taken on a deep, hard-edged sadness.

The Ellington orchestra sounded exquisite in the early summer sessions that produced this soundtrack. With a burnished sonic brilliance reminiscent of the glorious 1940 "Blanton/Webster" edition of the band, and soloists like Johnny Hodges and Paul Gonsalves (whose masterful tenor saxophone solo on "Hero To Zero" is surrounded by some truly adventurous harmonies), Ellington's tightly woven soundtrack took on a life independent of its original context. In doing so, it became one of Duke's most satisfying albums.

Anatomy of a Murder: From the Soundtrack of the Motion Picture (1959 Film),Duke Ellington,Sony,Big Band,Pop,Soundtrack,Soundtracks & Film Scores,Swing

Anatomy of a Murder: From the Soundtrack of the Motion Picture (1959 Film) [Extra tracks] [Soundtrack]

Average customer rating:

Dichotomous
A Revelation
The Great Duke didn't have a clue
I'm feelin' this; in terms'a movie scores is' a classic...
Pioneering and Perfect

Anatomy of a Murder: From the Soundtrack of the Motion Picture (1959 Film)
Duke Ellington
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000IMYH
Release Date: 1999-04-27

Tracks:

Main Title And Anatomy Of A Murder
Flirtibird
Way Early Subtone
Hero To Zero
Low Key Lightly
Happy Anatomy
Midnight Indigo
Almost Cried
Sunswept Sunday
Grace Valse
Happy Anatomy
Haupe
Upper And Outest
Anatomy Of A Murder - (bonus track, stereo single)
Merrily Rolling Along (Hero To Zero)
Sunswept Sunday - (bonus track)
Beer Garden - (bonus track, previously unreleased)
Happy Anatomy - (bonus track, previously unreleased)
Polly - (bonus track, previously unreleased)
Polly - (bonus track, previously unreleased, movie stings)
Happy Anatomy - (bonus track, previously unreleased, dixieland)
More Blues - (bonus track, previously unreleased, P.I. Five)
Almost Cried (Flirtibird) - (bonus track, previously unreleased, movie)
Anatomy Of A Murder - (bonus track, previously unreleased)
Anatomy Of A Murder - (mono single in stereo)
Grand Finale, The - (bonus track, previously unreleased)

Amazon.com

"I like playing with music and its relationship to the theater, particularly in the supporting role," Duke Ellington remarked in an audio interview from the reissue of his splendid soundtrack to Otto Preminger's 1959 film, Anatomy of a Murder. "Doing the score for a picture really calls for being along with the action and absorbing all of the atmosphere [of] everything taking place in the picture." But as this CD--which includes 14 alternate takes--shows, the syncopated swing and soul Ellington and his men lay down steal the show. Just as Preminger moves and shapes his actor's characters, Ellington creates musical motifs that bring out the best in his musicians as well as the story line. The orchestra sets the pace with the fanfare-ish "Main Title," with tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves's candlelight tones. Johnny Hodges's upwardly mobile alto-sax cries signify the femme-fatale, hip-swinging rhythms of "Flirtibird," which segues into the finger-snapped "Way Early Subtone," with Russell Procope's cool clarinet. Other standouts include the ballad "Low Key Lightly," costarring Ellington's regal piano and Ray Nance's serenading violin, while "Midnight Indigo" is harmonically haunted by Ellington's crystalline celesta chords, Billy Strayhorn's telepathic piano comping, and Harry Carney's soul-stirring baritone sax. The insightful and authoritative notes by historian Phil Schaap and Wynton Marsalis, along with the alternate and rehearsal takes, give the listener a comprehensive overview into the movie's themes of murder, romance, and intrigue that Duke Ellington so brilliantly augmented and illuminated through jazz improvisation, big-band orchestration, and the blues. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Customer Reviews:

Dichotomous.......2007-02-07

That guy who said this was the closest thing we have to a vernacular American symphony needs to spend more time outside of his comfort zone! I mean, I know we all want to circle the wagons around Duke because of the indignities that such an obvious genius suffered during his lifetime: being called a "petit maitre" by his greatest supporters, having it be questioned whether he was a composer at all! Horrible. But none of this changes the fact that there are radically different levels of excellence on this record - 1) Performance - totally excellent; the Ellington band at the top of their game. 2) melodic writing and scoring - intermittently excellent: Almost Cried/Flirtibird - excellent, I'm Gonna Go Fishing (Main title/Upper and Outest) - excellent. Happy Anatomy - definitely not excellent - in fact quite generic. Clark Terry is great, but that's obvious...3) Sense of continuity and linkage - absolutely not excellent. Henry Mancini's score for Touch of Evil (for example) is ersatz Jazz, OK, agreed. But the flow of it! It's just better than this is. Give it up to Mancini! He may be shlock, but he's a master ! As composition, this is middling Ellington. People who are married to Jazz are just the wrong people to be judging this music. And Wynton says this is the best use of celeste in Jazz? I mean I know we don't like the same things, but compared to Monk's Pannonica????? We're not doing Ellington's legacy any favors by calling this a masterpiece.

A Revelation.......2004-11-23

While I am no great fan of Duke Ellington's music, especially the stuff he created after 1950-52, this album is a jewel. It expanded the definition of what musical soundtracks might be, and it did so with such deep feeling, style and creativity, I can't imagine anyone grousing at this 75:00+ program of superb big- and small-ensemble jazz. It synthesizes blues, be-bop and abstract classical on a very profound level.

Other writers on this page have mentioned the musicians on the disk , but I want to mention the ways in which this composer and his ensemble created ambiance in a very tense, erotic and ambiguous motion picture. It's just what the doctor ordered.

Except for the Main Title, which sounds harshly strident to my ear, the remastering of this material wants for nothing. It is rich, deep and full, and plays well on a system with "flat," natural, output.

ANATOMY OF A MURDER marked the end of an era in which the real action of movie mysteries was implicit and ambiguous, in which the audience was called upon to actually THINK. What Jimmy Stewart, Ben Gazarra and Lee Remick brought to this project will last a lot longer than I will. But what Ellington's music did to amplify their superb performances is exceptional.

For the price of a big-city martini, you get your perennial warm-up. Five stars for a job well done.

The Great Duke didn't have a clue.......2004-03-18

One wants to be kind to this album -- this is, after all, the Great Duke, the Wizard of Jazz -- but in the end one thinks of what the critic Terry Teachout has said about jazz film scores: they're "like TV," too small-scale, too cheap, too familiar. "Anatomy of a Murder" is not a bad big-band album, though one pines for Duke's melodic viruosity of yore; but he was in his Grandeur phase by now, grinding out tuneless tone poems, treating concert halls as lecture halls, and generally noodling big time. Besides, when it came to composing a film score Duke didn't have a clue. It's one thing to write themes -- "Anatomy" is full of themes -- but it's another to write compelling music with a dramatic flow, and though the jazz buff may wince at Max Steiner and Alfred Newman ("Rachmaninoff!" as they used to sneer, before they learned Rocky was pretty good himself), you can't get the main titles of "A Stolen Life" or "The Bravados" ever out of your head, or your heart, while the Duke's chords are instantly forgettable.

More's the pity as this third-rate soundtrack is a first-rate album, a generous 76 minutes with excellent sound and some most interesting extra takes spiced with Duke's promo-disc platitudes, dialogue elements and Ot-to Prrrreminger. ("You've just been ginned, lieutenant!" "Grrrrin, be happy.") But even the ace producer Phil Schaap, that brilliant reconstructor of the Newport concert, couldn't heat up Mr. Freeze, and he ends the show with the sound of strangling and flatted-fifths. Not one of jazz' finest hours.

I'm feelin' this; in terms'a movie scores is' a classic..........2003-05-25

After watching the movie (which is a classic!) an' noticin' Duke Ellington's name in the credits as havin' composed the score, I knew I hadda get my hands on this. I'm sumpin' of a jazz-head an' Ellington's compositions are straight from heaven, the stuff dreams are made of. Although I like his more relaxed stuff, this is some good big band arrangements; comin' outta that "crime jazz" vein like previous reviewers mentioned. It works best to me, because of the hint of danger behind even the more seductive an' playful pieces on the whole album.

If you're jus' gettin' into the Duke's work, then this album should NOT be sumpin' you'd rush out an' get, but if you get deep enough into his work is' sumpin' of an essential. On the other hand, if you're a fan'a movie scores ('specially classix ones) then this IS sumpin' you'll wanna rush out an' get, 'cause is' a classic in that respects.

Pioneering and Perfect.......2002-10-14

While Elmer Bernstein is usually given credit for inventing the subgenre of the "crime jazz" soundtrack for Otto Preminger's 1955 film noir "The Man With the Golden Arm," Bernstein's score more or less stayed with the convention of wedding the music directly to the emotional import of the action onscreen. While he wrote some strong and visceral themes, and opened up a previously untapped genre (jazz) to the movies, Bernstein's score relies too heavily on one main theme, and lacks the cohesion of his later efforts. In 1958, Orson Welles hired composer Henry Mancini to write the score for his own noir thriller, "Touch of Evil," and Mancini's soundtrack really took the "crime jazz" soundtrack into previously uncharted territory, as Welles incorporated the soundtrack into the movie more as background music and raucous street noise than classic underscoring.

But it was with Preminger's 1959 courtroom drama "Anatomy of a Murder" that the "crime jazz" soundtrack really came to its full fruition. Whereas Bernstein and Mancini were classically-trained movie composers writing in the jazz genre, Ellington was one of jazz's true elder statesman, who had a refined interest in the classics, and his soundtrack for "Anatomy" is the most consummate of all jazz soundtracks, looking forward to Quincy Jones' backbeat scores. What Ellington brings at long last to the fore is the element of improvisation, which really gives the soundtrack an unpredictable bounce that works wonderfully vis-a-vis Wendell Mayes' unpredictable screenplay.

There are a number of listeners that regard Ellington as a fish out of water for this soundtrack, which they regard as a "nice attempt." I disagree, entirely: Ellington's dynamic orchestrations, economical use of themes and varied moods represent some of his best output, and although there is a hip, urbane sound to his big band/swing numbers, his sad songs are among the saddest sounds in all movies, even rivalling Bernard Herrmann's dark scoring. There is a bottomless pit of sorrow in his quiet blues numbers that ring true and resonate with the listener in the most bitter, sanguinary, way.

Columbia's reissuing packaging remains faithful to the original cover/label art and there are plenty of alternate takes and concurrent issues on this disc as a bonus. Ellington's commentary at the end gives further insight into the soundtrack, the movie itself, and his musical ideas. His voice is as musical as his numbers, very refined, gentlemanly and impassioned.

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