Trumpeteer

Hello, everyone! It's been a while since I've posted on this topic, not really a surprise since I posted the last episode in December 2020. But, as you know, two new John Williams scores are coming out soon, and The Baton is coming back to continue the John Williams musical journey! I plan on releasing the episode covering the music for "The Fablemans" and the work Williams has done since "Rise of Skywalker" soon. And the episode for Indy 5 will be out shortly after that movie's release. I'm waiting to hear the music for both films until I hear them in the movies. (Though I broke my rule and listened to the music from Indy 5 premiered at the Hollywood Bowl.) In the meantime, I'm working on another podcast, called The Best Song Podcast. It will debut in January 2023, and, like The Baton, will be an oral history of music through multiple decades. This time, I'll be discussing the songs that were nominated for an Academy Award in the first 90 years of the award, from 1934 to 2023. I'm having a lot of fun with the research, and listening to many of the songs has been a thrill and an education. The research has been extensive, and I've started a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $2,200 for preproduction costs. That includes buying lots of biographies of songwriters, hiring a graphic designer to create a logo and a professional voiceover artist to record the opening and closing of each episode. I hope you can give something to help me cover these costs. I don't get a dime of it unless the entire $2,200 is raised, so please give what you can. Here's the link: The Best Song Podcast Kickstarter

Hello, all. I was invited to speak about John Williams in a new episode of the podcast "Speeding Bullitt," which is very similar to my John WIlliams podcast in that it is an oral biography of Steve McQueen's life through his movies. The link below will take you to the episode I did, which discusses Williams' work on the Steve McQueen film "The Reivers." As many of you know, "The Reivers" turned out to be a pivotal point in John Williams' career, and I was happy to educate the show's host on that, and other tidbits about John Williams' life before and after that film. Show website link: Speeding Bullitt Podcast I accidentally posted this in the wrong section. Let's discuss this here:

I was at the Sunday concert and it was a lot of fun. Of course, since I have finished my podcast, I knew there would be no new film music for me to hear, but that was fine. The Overture to the Oscars was new, I think? I have to look it up, but it sounded like the music that opened the 2002 Oscars when he was co-musical director. I enjoyed seeing JW looking so lively at 89 years old. I spoke with a woman after the show, and after I told her John Williams was five months away from turning 90, she said, "He looked like he was in his 70s!" But the highlight of the show was meeting Eduardo Victoria, who was a cohost on my podcast for the "War of the Worlds" episode. It was the first time meeting one of my cohosts in person, and we had a wonderful pre-show conversation.

I am attending the Sunday evening show. It would be great to have a JWFan gathering after or before the concert. I got to meet members of JWFan way, way back in 2004 after a Boston Pops concert with JW, and it was a big highlight.

Hi, folks! I brought in some of my cohosts from my John Williams podcast to offer their thoughts about the upcoming Indy 5 film and score. And since we recorded this close to Star Wars Day, I asked everyone to let me know their favorite "Star Wars" musical moments. Some were surprising, but most gave responses that were expected. Enjoy!

That's interesting about "The Witnesses," because it sounds a little choppy in the film mix, but that could have just been some last-minute editing choices made.

Just to clear up and clarify some points being made here in this topic: John Williams was asked by Oliver Stone to write a score for "JFK," which Williams quickly accepted. However, Williams was very busy with Steven Spielberg's "Hook," which at the time was being discussed as an original musical. Both films were set for a fall/winter 1991 release, and the timelines for scoring both projects created a conflict. After "Hook" officially became a nonmusical, Williams had a little time to work on the "JFK" score. He visited Stone on the New Orleans set to talk about some ideas, and visited Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy was shot. After that, he wrote music to fit scenes as written in the script and concepts of the film. Stone and Williams agreed that the music would be recorded almost as concert suites, with Stone and music editor Ken Wannberg fitting the music into the film where needed. The only scene that seems to precisely fit the score and visuals is the team examining David Ferrie's home after his apparent suicide. The music for that scene doesn't appear anywhere else, and likely Williams was able to write music for that specific scene after Stone presented a rough cut. If you never heard the soundtrack album, and you didn't know the story, you would think Williams composed the score pretty much in his usual fashion. I didn't know the back story of the composing technique until about 2005, and it offered a different perspective on the score but did not detract from the "enjoyment" of it. I discuss many of these points with Brian Martell in my "JFK" epsiode of my podcast:

The music for this scene comes from "Garrison's Obsession," track 6 on the official CD release. The music comes from 1:20-1:59. The music underscores Oswald being questioned by police, ushered out of police headquarters to the throng of reporters where Jack Ruby is waiting and builds to the gunshot. After that, there is no music as Oswald falls to the ground.

I would love that, but unfortunately no. The biggest celebrity I could get for this show was @Erik Woods.

As we all know, John Williams' 89th birthday is tomorrow (Monday), and I will be posting a special video episode of "The Baton" to celebrate. I will be joined by 12 of my podcast's cohosts as we share how we celebrate the Maestro's birthday, and talk about some of Williams' music we would use to introduce a new fan. This video will make its debut as a YouTube "live" Premiere at 9 am Eastern on Monday, February 8. Link is below. I invite you to the Premiere to chat with other John Williams fans as the video plays. If you can't make the "live" video, it will be available at the same link as an on-demand video. Celebrating John Williams' 89th birthday

Just as a reminder: I mention in the first episode that I am not a trained musician, so approach this podcast knowing that. Plus, I would personally be bored if every episode was a music theory lecture. My frequent cohosts add that when needed and I am very thankful for that. @bruckhorn I am curious to know the new piece of information you learned in the Star Wars episode. Send me a private message.

Thanks @Biodome and @Bayesian for the kind words. They are much appreciated. I am happy that you discovered more music from John Williams and are going to watch some of the films. Many of the scores will be greatly enhanced from matching the music with visuals. Hey @T.RASK you are the first to say that you are going backwards. That feels like reading a book from the last chapter to the beginning, "Memento"-style. Hope you find it enjoyable.

Thanks for posting those videos, @Erik Woods. I was trying to inform as many people as possible, and forgot the most important place! Here is background on these videos: I hosted a virtual roundtable for 18 John Williams fans, all of whom cohosted "The Baton" with me. We talked for two hours about a lot of topics, including John Williams' legacy and the state of film scoring in the 21st century. There was also some lengthy debate about the music for two Indiana Jones films. But the highlight (at least for me) was a WORLD PREMIERE of a trombone overdub by Jim Nova of "Wide Receiver," the composition Williams wrote for NBC's football coverage. I hope everyone enjoys this special bonus episode of "The Baton."

That's not where I got it, but I'm glad it's there as well.

A journalist never reveals his sources.