Yavar Moradi

Nice, though you've added a white bar on the left hand side... Yavar

Thanks for the suggestion! Indeed Richard has been on my list to interview for a long time. I'm not sure whether the present coronavirus crisis will make it more likely to happen or less, but I've met Richard and he's a great guy who I'd love to talk with on the record. Emil Richards... was actually supposed to be the first musician collaborator of Jerry's I interviewed. David Newman helped put me in touch with his people last year, but he was recovering from surgery at the time. I then got distracted with life and just as I was on the verge of following up and scheduling an interview with him, I found out he had passed away. You can imagine my heartbreak. It made me even more sensitive of the time limit aspect of my Odyssey Interviews project. In fact, I'll be brutally honest about something: while we had been discussing the possibility of a conversation for some time, the reason this interview with Mr. Davoodi happened when it did was because it looked like the United States was on the verge of war with Iran, and I did not want to risk the possibility of something happening to my new friend before we were able to record a conversation for posterity. And now with the coronavirus ravaging Iran and now the United States, the subject of mortality has been if anything even more on my mind, as we went through the editing process with him even as he began suffering symptoms of the virus. Anyway, thanks for sharing the kind message and for caring. I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of the conversation because I'm about to share Part 2! EDIT: And here it is! http://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/3142192-odyssey-interviews-nasrollah-davoodi-part-2 Full disclosure: After the opening half hour about Jerry Goldsmith, the character of this installment is very different from the first half, and indeed different from any other Odyssey Interview so far. It is more of a full on film music radio show, with us largely opting to play full pieces for you all after Mr. Davoodi introduces them. I would call it a deep dive into Iranian art music...except it barely scratches the surface so despite the record length it's really more of a crash course. But it will give you a sense of the breadth of the nation's music – particularly film music – as eight preeminent composers who worked in film are introduced (nine if you count Andre Hossein, who was from Iran but primarily worked in France). If the only Persian film composer you knew was Ramin Djawadi, prepare to have your mind expanded! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the variety of beautiful sounds contained within, and you may discover some new composers to love in the process. As my father emigrated from Iran, this episode is of particular personal importance to me. I hope everyone enjoys, and I very much look forward to hearing what people think.@Fancyarcher @Brundlefly @Display Name @TownerFan @Disco Stu @Mr. Breathmask @Faleel J.M. @El Jefe @Modest Expectations @Laserschwert @publicist @BrotherSound @Modest Expectations @Jay @Stefancos @Jurassic Shark Yavar

Kritzerland had also gotten into Sony before this happened, but I think their reissue of Jerome Moross's The Cardinal (first time on CD from the original tapes, and in great sound) last year was the final Sony title from them. Bruce Kimmel mentioned he had others on his to-do list, but I don't think he'd actually licensed them in time. As it was, he apparently had to fight tooth and nail to make The Cardinal still happen. And I don't remember making that claim about Mainstream owning all of their original catalogue again, but I am fairly certain it is true. Intrada has been releasing bunches of their albums from the original tapes for the first time. Yavar

Hope you’re right about those being inevitable, Jay. Yavar

Not Aladdin’s third wish! Doesn’t anybody wish for world peace or an end to hunger, etc? Don’t see why wishes have to be selfish. How is it that somehow I myself can both “want to see more premieres” and “want expanded releases to happen”? Doesn’t seem so insane to me. Yavar

Try a sweet suite or two... Leviathan's good but Lionheart is one of Jerry's greatest ever. Yavar

You're probably right! And there are plenty of other scores before and after it which are already out of print. Yavar

Lol. Yeah I certainly don't remember much beyond motifs. This is probably the Goldsmith action score I know least of all...which means it's possible it will be a revelation to me in complete form. Yavar

Trick question. I don't think there has ever been a Varese Club release yet that had no reissues or premieres. Last time it was a reissue with an expansion. Time before that it was a reissue and a premiere with an expansion. And this time it's a premiere with an expansion. Sure, but it does NOT make much sense to say, "Please, no expanded/C&C/"Deluxe" (sic.) releases!" I just learned on the FSM board that (similar to First Knight and the Lancelot theme), the original U.S. Marshals album left off entire themes Goldsmith had written, so it seems this had a stronger argument for expansion than even I was aware of... Yavar

It's because Thor gives off the impression of being a logical person, so one feels the urge to keep trying and trying (to little avail). So Thor...when was the last Varese Club batch that was all expansions again? Yavar

Other labels were brought up to make the point that *even if every Varese Club release is an expansion* (and that has never been the case), you still have plenty other sources to get the premieres you crave. There is literally no need for Varese to cater to your premiere-only tastes; your needs are met. On the other hand our needs (yes, they're wants really I know) for Varese to get a move on and expand their many 30 minute (and sub 30 minute) 90s albums before compact discs die as a format... these can only be met by Varese continuing to release expansions you don't care about. I notice you don't want to answer my question. I think it's because the reality is as I laid it out: whether a label releases a premiere, reissue, or expansion, you're unlikely to buy it unless it's a premiere of a previously-unreleased score by one of your three favorite composers (with maybe a few others like Top Gun thrown in, in addition). So you only care philosophically -- when Varese released the 100% premiere a batch or two ago of Laurence Rosenthal's Rooster Cogburn (don't be confused by them using the Deluxe Edition banner -- it had *never* been released before at all), did you buy it? Were you even tempted? I submit that when Varese recently released a premiere in their Club series, it was just useless to you as when they release an expansion. How many times has Varese put out a batch that were all expansions, Thor? Last time they did a small batch and it was one significant expansion (Dolores Claiborne) and one reissue (The Stand -- yes, this was marked as "The Deluxe Edition" but it was a straight reissue of the program from the Stephen King box set from a few years ago... and even then it's your kind of expansion, with the original album preserved on its own disc and an optional second disc with more music). The time before that, they released one expansion (Air Force One), one reissue (Giacchino's Star Trek), and one premiere (Rooster Cogburn). The time before that but have been difficult for you: they released two expansions (Robocop 2 and Dracula) and one reissue (Raggedy Man). And before that, pretty much every Club batch included an Encore title... A Show of Force, Heathers, etc. All straight reissues of the original albums. Hell, their Delerue London Sessions reissue wasn't even an expansion or reissue, but a *contraction* -- it omitted a few tracks that were on the original volumes. So tell me again how we're swimming in far too many expansions. I for one wish Varese would concentrate on them *exclusively* for the Club (because, once again: only the Club can do them!), but they haven't been so far. Maybe with the elimination of the Encore line that will change, but as I pointed out they've still managed a reissue in every batch so far since then. We only get maybe SIX Varese expansions TOPS in an entire *year*! (When we are lucky, that is. In 2019 do you know how many new expansions Varese released? TWO -- Air Force One and Robocop 2. TWO.) So... you really gonna begrudge us? One expansion every other month (or even every six months) is apparently something you cannot abide, and will complain about Varese concentrating on every time a new batch is announced? Exactly. Surely Thor you can understand the clear logic of this. Yavar

His logic's pretty sound. Say you're right about LLL, even if your figure seems a little high to me -- that still means that 10% of their releases are premieres. And I recently outlined how well *over half* of Intrada's releases for the past half a year were premieres (or practically so). And some of their other releases have been straight album reissues (like their recent The Collector/David & Lisa twofer) which also don't bother you. So why are you acting like Richard's logic is faulty when he specifically said "I'm seeing them [premieres] a lot from Intrada", and then you proceed to ignore Intrada entirely in your reply? So let's see...there's Intrada, Caldera, MovieScore Media doing plenty of premieres. Varese too if you look outside their occasional Club titles (many of which have been reissues this past year). LLL and Quartet and Music Box and Kritzerland do some premieres but not as many as you would like, presumably? But I think it's safe to say that between all of them we still get at least two or three dozen film music premiere albums each year. Now please answer me these questions honestly: how many *premiere* releases of film scores did you buy last year from the labels, including the two you mentioned? Do you still buy any premiere releases from Intrada or LLL when they release them? What were the last five you bought? When was the last time you purchased a film music CD by a composer other than Williams, Elfman, or Goldenthal, for that matter? And you know my follow up question is this: so aren't most of the premiere releases the labels go to the trouble of putting out effectively just as ignored by (and useless to) you as the handful of Varese expansions we get every year, and you regularly complain about? I submit that this has entirely become a tiresome repetitive philosophical exercise for you, rather than you actually being affected much in any way (in terms of your actual purchases) by what the film music specialty labels produce. You have said over and over that you only will spend money on a CD if it is a premiere and if it is by Williams, Elfman, or Goldenthal...with an occasional other title you express interest in because you have some personal connection to the score or film, but even with those you often just seem to say, "I *might* pick this up some time" -- I usually only see a definite commitment to purchase from you when it's a premiere release from one of the three composers you consider yourself a completist of. Now tell me I'm wrong. Yavar

I doubt it, since it's *their* album recording. Also, there are multiple examples of Varese producing Deluxe Editions with both album recording and film recordings included (The Fury, Damien: Omen II, Justine, etc.) In the case of Elmer Bernstein's The Great Escape, they released the film recording on its own as a 2 disc Deluxe Edition, but that was after they had reissued the album recording on its own within the previous year or two before. They haven't reissued Brainstorm any time recently, so including a remastered original album on a separate disc from the complete film recording makes total sense I think. Hope they do the same for Rozsa's Eye of the Needle and Elfman's Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, some day, since those are two others where their contract says they control perpetuity rights to the film recordings in addition to the album recordings they produced. But Thor: there is no reason premieres have to come from the Varese Club, or even Varese at all. Varese doesn't have any exclusive deals with studios, or items only they can release as premieres (unless we're talking premiering *film recordings* like Brainstorm or Eye of the Needle, for titles they control because they produced the album re-recordings). You want premieres? LLL, Intrada, Quartet, Music Box, etc. all continue putting out regular releases. Any of them could produce those premieres. I join you in calling for more premiere score releases (and we have been getting some good ones lately*)! There is NO reason to demand that a rare Varese Club batch (of two) contain premieres and no expansions. Varese controls dozens of beloved scores due to their perpetuity deals, scores which got short 30 minute (sometimes even less) albums in the 90s which people long to have expanded. I get that you're not interested in expansions, but the majority of us are. And that's why every time a new Varese Club batch is announced, we imagine getting the amount of music from our beloved scores DOUBLED (or more). To you this somehow doesn't count as "new music", but to us it does. Please don't begrudge us. Call for premieres from Intrada, LLL, or even Varese when it comes to their regular releases. But for the Varese Club specifically, there is little reason for you to hope that they aren't expansions. (Just don't buy them!) *How about that awesome LLL Paramount Westerns set -- pretty sure ALL of that was music being premiered, 4 packed discs with surviving material from no less than ELEVEN scores! My favorite release of 2019. And how about Intrada, lately? They've recently released several current scores over the past few months (Heavenquest, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Crawl, and Mark McKenzie's latest DragonHeart score). Time Bandits was a total premiere. Elmer Bernstein's The Amazing Mr. Blunden was a total (wonderful) premiere. Lalo Schifrin's Return from Witch Mountain was a total (awesome) premiere. Gotcha! by Bill Conti was practically a premiere, with only two Contri cuts on the original LP (never released on CD, btw) and those were apparently not even the film versions. So surely you don't count that as an expansion? Howard the Duck was practically a premiere, considering how very little score was on the LP (and again like Gotcha, never legally on CD before). And Rosenthal's magnificent The Power and the Glory was practically a premiere too, with less than 14 minutes of that 50 minute score previously released as a mere suite on an old Rosenthal promo. Then there are their new Tiomkin recordings (Dial M for Murder and the two disc set of ballet scores)... those count as premieres to you, don't they? Quartet and Music Box have also done their share of premieres lately (though perhaps more in terms of non-Hollywood scores). So what exactly are you complaining about? There certainly seem to be plenty of premieres to go around. I just suspect you aren't buying them, because the reality is that you only care about premiere releases of scores by Williams, Goldenthal, and Elfman. Yavar

Literally any label can do those, Thor. Varese only puts out a handful of Club titles every year. Don’t begrudge the rest of us our few expansions which only the Varese Club can do because the label holds rights in perpetuity. Yavar

If this batch does include US Marshals (as we all hope and expect), what a month it will end up being for Goldsmith fans! Yavar