VA - Crime Jazz, Music in the First & Second Degree [1997] (2 x CDs)

CRIME JAZZ

VA - Crime Jazz, Music in the First & Second Degree [1997] (2 x CDs)

VA - Crime Jazz, Music in the First Degree [1997] - Eighteen excerpts from movie and television soundtracks to crime drama, recorded between 1954 and 1964; in the few cases when these are not from the actual soundtrack itself, they're clearly inspired by the genre. Several notable composers (Elmer Bernstein, Henry Mancini, Count Basie, Leonard Bernstein, David Amram) and performers (Shorty Rogers, Stan Kenton, Quincy Jones) show up here with snazzy, tense works with feet in both the jazz and soundtrack idioms. Several of the tracks are classics of the style -- the theme to the Johnny Staccato series, "Frankie Machine" from The Man with the Golden Arm, Shorty Rogers' The Wild One theme, Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn" (done here by Quincy Jones), and Mancini's ominous main title music to the film noir classic Touch of Evil. It's slightly recommended over its companion volume, Crime Jazz: Music in the Second Degree, because it has a higher concentration of familiar classics. Each of the volumes, however, will appeal far more to the soundtrack specialist than the jazz fan -- not that you can't be both at once. (AllMusic review by Richie Unterberger)

VA - Crime Jazz, Music in the Second Degree [1997] - Numerous notable jazz musicians contributed to movie and television soundtracks of crime thrillers, and this well-annotated 18-song compilation gathers several of the more outstanding examples. It's not so much a jazz anthology, however, as it is an anthology of some of the more memorable and effective musical backgrounds from suspense films, albeit ones that happened to feature a jazzy flair and some notable players. Stan Kenton, Lalo Schifrin, Quincy Jones, Kai Winding, and Stan Getz are among the most recognizable contributors to the disc; Henry Mancini is not, it's fair to say, beloved by many jazz connoisseurs, but he often used jazzy flourishes in his soundtrack work. There are extracts from West Side Story, 77 Sunset Strip, Touch of Evil, The Asphalt Jungle, and Mickey One, though many of the other sources will be familiar only to film noir buffs. It's still a decent collection for those who like ominous, jazz-influenced soundtracks of this vintage, characterized by the anxious crescendos, prattling bongos, and elongated brass bursts that underpinned many an action scene. (AllMusic review by Richie Unterberger)

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Track lists

Vol.1 

01 Bill Perkins; Shorty Rogers & His Orchestra - The Wild One 3:22

02 Elmer Bernstein; Shorty Rogers - Frankie Machine 5:01

03 Buddy Morrow - Staccato's Theme 3:00

04 Irving Joseph - Stool Pigeon 2:18

05 Joseph Gershenson & Orchestra - Touch of Evil (Main Title) 3:31

06 David Amram - Harold's Way 2:14

07 Stan Kenton & His Orchestra - Cool 4:29

08 Warren Barker - 77 Sunset Strip Cha Cha 2:08

09 Leith Stevens & His Orchestra - Daddy Long Legs 3:50

10 Elmer Bernstein - The Street (Main Title) 2:42

11 Buddy Morrow - Richard Diamond 2:32

12 Warren Barker - The Stu Bailey Blues 2:47

13 Quincy Jones - Peter Gunn 3:00

14 John Gregory Orchestra - Echo Four-Two 2:39

15 Kenyon Hopkins - Contract With Depravity 2:15

16 Skip Martin - Riff Blues (Theme) 2:29

17 Stanley Wilson - M-Squad (Theme) 2:36

18 Mundell Lowe - Naked City 4:27

Vol. 2

01 Quincy Jones & His Orchestra - Shoot to Kill 2:34

02 Stan Kenton & His Orchestra - Taunting Scene (The Rumble) 3:57

03 Joseph Gershenson & Orchestra; Universal-International Orchestra - The Boss 1:07

04 Henry Mancini & His Orchestra - Arabesque 2:16

05 Lalo Schifrin - The Killer 1:31

06 Leith Stevens - Toss Me a Scalpel 2:56

07 Irving Joseph - Prison Break 2:09

08 A. Waterer North - French Quarter 2:23

09 Warner Brothers Star Instrumentalists; Warren Barker - Late at Bailey's Pad 2:56

10 A. Waterer North - Floozie 2:30

11 Lalo Schifrin - Danube Incident 1:56

12 Stan Getz - Where I Live/The Apartment/Cleaning up for Jenny/The Polish Landlady 2:34

13 Buddy Morrow - Perry Mason Theme 2:39

14 Skip Martin - Hammer Blow 2:53

15 Warner Brothers Star Instrumentalists; Warren Barker - Caper at the Coffee House 2:11

16 Miklós Rózsa - The Asphalt Jungle 2:38

17 Kai Winding - Experiment in Terror 2:24

18 Henry Mancini - Mr. Lucky 2:13

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