airmanjerm

The Field Band actually released a produced video of this live performance. Not the best audio quality ever, but that room where they performed is notoriously poor, acoustically. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10153261645616088&id=130380711087

I should add, so my previous comment doesn't sound as snarky as it looks in print: the folks who manage the Air Force's official social media work in the same office as I do, and they got the article from me a while ago. I think they've been cooking up a post for a while, just waiting till the time is right.

Psst, they got those dates from the article. ?

Yep. Too bad they fetch an audience of people who can't think for themselves and therefore latch on to the nonsense.

We also have our "detractors" who think the bands are stupid, full of waste, and don't amount to anything. They don't really care if it's John Williams, they just hate everybody associated with us and aren't afraid to let their prejudice show. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1013356185402549&id=467201356684704

This morning the Secretary of the Air Force (Hon. Deborah Lee James) released a Facebook photo post to salute John Williams as a former Air Force Band member. She even included the old photo from the 1955 article in a comment. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1074815122537483&substory_index=0&id=706043656081300

"I finished Star Wars and I'm already working on Spielberg's new film." Fun quote from this interview.

Great interview Jason! Appreciate the insight and as others have said, it may have convinced me to pick up the new Home Alone. I think it was great that he acknowledged the criticism they would get for releasing a new version so close to the previous one, but explained their reasoning for it quite well. It's obvious the guy is a fan himself, so it's nice to see how excited he was about finding the new elements. Your interview is also one of the great things about these specialty labels, and the folks who run them. They're not only film score fans, they are also very open and approachable about what they do. They listen to fans and try to make us happy (and boy, can we be a whiny, critical bunch), and aren't so high-and-mighty, hoity-toity that they won't do an interview about their process. Anyways, great reading, thanks!

Well it's a little drive over here but San Antonio Symphony is doing E.T. in September, and Raiders in February or so. I mean, it's not Chicago, but should still be a fun time!

It's a really good score, and I'm glad they released more copies. I hate seeing the price gouging on eBay for things like this, so pick it up now. I'm sure it'll be a hundred bucks on eBay again soon.

Just ar reminder that this one went back on sale today: http://www.quartetrecords.com/the-long-goodbye.html

lalalandrecords-99627 Because it's there!

Great interview Jason, thanks for doing it and sharing!

Got a notification that this one was back in stock at Movie Music. Not sure how many are available, but almost certainly a couple people dumping their copies since the re-release announcement. http://www.moviemusic.com/soundtrack/M08553/longgoodbye/

I'll add that even at 33, breaking a bone will practically stop any sort of real conducting you might be doing for 6 weeks or longer, at least til you're out of a cast. I mean, you could still do it, but even a young guy in a cast will be best to just cancel. (Of course, broken bone is just discussion, I know.) Whatever it is, here's hoping it's nothing too serious.

Definitely no pity here! Lol. We'll probably get this for our stockpile at work - we typically get most of them, although there are some that we miss sometime.

They're not missing, he's just waiting to put them in order for a better listening experience!

No KM, the Marine Band could sight-read this better than most professional orchestras could perform it. They really are THAT good. The problem with this whole performance and recording is the fact that it is recorded at an outdoor concert. There are very few outdoor venues that offer proper acoustics, and even then they typically only sound great if you're there in person. Some outdoor places like the Hollywood Bowl go out of their way to mic every single instrument (or section) on the stage, and even then it's still not as good as indoors. It never will be: you won't get overtones from the brass, many of the string and woodwind sounds just die away without resonating, etc. There's a million reasons this didn't sound great, but it's not because of rehearsal time or group ability. Frankly, it won't be on my top play list either, but I'd love to hear it one day from an indoor recording.

This adaptation also includes new music written by Williams specifically for the concert band version. I'm not sure how much extra, but that alone should make it fun to hear. (Whenever that might be!) But never fear, it's a certainty that the score will be available for purchase from Hal Leonard soon, if not already.

Sometime around 1995 when a good friend and I were in Florida and went to Universal Studios....and man, all the JW music belting out of all the speakers everywhere. Jaws, E.T., all that. I was in college studying music so I guess the JW stuff just caught my attention in more than one way. Dang, the excitement it generated...and how very well written, my collegiate-music-major-self thought. Somewhere on that trip I found and bought the "Spielberg/Williams Collaboration" CD and those were the first ones I really fell in love with. Couple months later I'd bought the "Jaws" OST tape (YES, the tape!) and on a spring break one day I sat on the beach somewhere and sat in an old chair on the beach watching the waves and the ocean and listened to that tape while drinking beer for about 4 or 6 hours. (I was on spring break so shut up.) I remember marveling at the instrumentation choices and how there were all these bass clarinet and piccolo solo sections and how gigantic the big fanfare sections sounded. It was a realization for me as I was learning about orchestration at the time and I still think of that score when I'm writing anything that may be similar to any of the styles from that score. I'll never write a bass clarinet solo without seeing those waves and remembering just how rich and full that Bass Clarinet was on that tape. And P.S. - that damned tape had to be turned over RIGHT in the middle of the barrel chase. You youngsters will NEVER know the trials and sacrifice! haha

Thanks Sharky, I still pop in frequently but stay quite busy so I don't get to jump into discussions these days as much as I'd often like. You can count me in on that Pilgrim, since it's how I earn my living and all.

Hi Jason, welcome to the forums, and yes there are a number of composers here. There are also those that specialize in music theory and often we all get into in-depth discussions about the theoretical aspects of JW's works (and others). Jump on in!

There was a short documentary on TV a week or two ago that I DVRed because I happened to catch it right at the beginning. It was called "Harry Potter: The Making of Diagon Alley." It has a little 2:00" section about the music that was created. I haven't been able to find it online so I did the old trick of using my phone to make a video of the TV while it played back. I apologize that it's not great quality or in flac or anything (ha!), but here's the spot. Definitely no sign of Williams at the recording studio (Abbey Road). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvOwRIxDGS4

Dr. Know, if you look up about a dozen posts back you can see I posted a video of the AF Band's ceremonial brass performing the fanfare in a rehearsal (and that's Lt. Shanti Nolan conducting in the video). I haven't heard the version of the live performance on iTunes, but this is the same group just a couple of days before that performance.

Preach!