lairdo

I love the Clear and Present Score. One of my favorite Horner scores (which is saying something given how many great movies he composed). 
 
I actually worked on the sound edit for about a week in June of 1994, moonlighting from Sony in the evenings to help a friend of mine get all the dialogue finished. I worked on the scene where the drug lord bad guy is in the batting cage and switches from Spanish to English dialogue. It was a lot of fun to be on the Paramount lot and to help on the movie in some small way.

I love the Clear and Present Score. One of my favorite Horner scores (which is saying something given how many great movies he composed). 
 
I actually worked on the sound edit for about a week in June of 1994, moonlighting from Sony in the evenings to help a friend of mine get all the dialogue finished. I worked on the scene where the drug lord bad guy is in the batting cage and switches from Spanish to English dialogue. It was a lot of fun to be on the Paramount lot and to help on the movie in some small way.

I love the Clear and Present Score. One of my favorite Horner scores (which is saying something given how many great movies he composed). 
 
I actually worked on the sound edit for about a week in June of 1994, moonlighting from Sony in the evenings to help a friend of mine get all the dialogue finished. I worked on the scene where the drug lord bad guy is in the batting cage and switches from Spanish to English dialogue. It was a lot of fun to be on the Paramount lot and to help on the movie in some small way.

I know this was mentioned on another Obi-Wan Kenobi thread that Canadian violinist James Ehnes performed on the score. It's a nice connection given Ehnes has played the JW first violin concerto Stephane Deneve from time to time.
 
Here's an article I found about his involvement.
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/arts/from-tatooine-with-love-576468612.html
 
 

Presto has it too which might be faster and cheaper for some folks. (Thought, they don't have the 10" vinyl.)
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9329243--williams-violin-concerto-no-2-selected-film-themes
 
 
Well, I think that ASM continues to understand the work better and better. I just listened to the Philly version again this weekend, and it is very tight. Carnegie Hall sounds great (as do Symphony Hall in Boston). Probably a toss up between the two in terms of performance. I would say the Philadelphia Orchestra is probably considered stronger now than the BSO, but the BSO does love to play for JW. 
 
There is one big caveat though on preference which is why I think the released version is better. At the end of the piece, there is a very loud clunk on the radio broadcast. It's quite audible and gets in the way of the ending. This is not a criticism of the recording of course - just an unfortunate accident.
 

That's cool! (And I do think Mike should get one too.)

That's cool! (And I do think Mike should get one too.)

Thanks to @lairdo’s post, my copy arrived today.  Nice!

Wow, the covers are fantastic. I had never gone through all the of the previous posts. Darn good stuff.

Thanks, Jay. Glad you liked it. There is another chunk to follow.

Alas, there was a technical issue which resulting in having to do a lot of clean up to even get to this point. Mike in fact did record locally, and while he could not hear it on his end when we recorded, the issue was there in both his local and my remote recording. We discussed re-recording (Mike kindly volunteering to do so), but he was so open and insightful the first time, I felt we could not capture that magic again. 
 
I do suspect that when Ed (our IndyCast host) recompressed the file, the situation got exacerbated.
 
Here are the uncompressed versions (WAV and ALAC) for those who have not listened already. I'll post an uncompressed link to part 2 when it is ready as well. (Sorry the files are so big - I edit everything at 96 and just left it at that rate to reduce artifacts.)
 
Thanks again for listening,
 
Laird
 
ALAC - https://mega.nz/file/fNR0XCqL#zfP-spAvOsv_cwuGF00Qc2jJp9n85LP_wxkE3BIuo3k
WAV - https://mega.nz/file/TNxiiYTK#lf3PzbWRl72f88qrs0gjE0wW5Fc5HvwSL0snBfZrYqs
 
 
 
 

Thanks, Jay. Glad you liked it. There is another chunk to follow.

Alas, there was a technical issue which resulting in having to do a lot of clean up to even get to this point. Mike in fact did record locally, and while he could not hear it on his end when we recorded, the issue was there in both his local and my remote recording. We discussed re-recording (Mike kindly volunteering to do so), but he was so open and insightful the first time, I felt we could not capture that magic again. 
 
I do suspect that when Ed (our IndyCast host) recompressed the file, the situation got exacerbated.
 
Here are the uncompressed versions (WAV and ALAC) for those who have not listened already. I'll post an uncompressed link to part 2 when it is ready as well. (Sorry the files are so big - I edit everything at 96 and just left it at that rate to reduce artifacts.)
 
Thanks again for listening,
 
Laird
 
ALAC - https://mega.nz/file/fNR0XCqL#zfP-spAvOsv_cwuGF00Qc2jJp9n85LP_wxkE3BIuo3k
WAV - https://mega.nz/file/TNxiiYTK#lf3PzbWRl72f88qrs0gjE0wW5Fc5HvwSL0snBfZrYqs
 
 
 
 

Wow Laird, thank you for the uncompressed files! The conversation was so good, it was easy to push through the technical issue and still enjoy the conversation immensely. Really looking forward to part 2, because part 1 was so good! 

Thanks, Jay. Glad you liked it. There is another chunk to follow.

Alas, there was a technical issue which resulting in having to do a lot of clean up to even get to this point. Mike in fact did record locally, and while he could not hear it on his end when we recorded, the issue was there in both his local and my remote recording. We discussed re-recording (Mike kindly volunteering to do so), but he was so open and insightful the first time, I felt we could not capture that magic again. 
 
I do suspect that when Ed (our IndyCast host) recompressed the file, the situation got exacerbated.
 
Here are the uncompressed versions (WAV and ALAC) for those who have not listened already. I'll post an uncompressed link to part 2 when it is ready as well. (Sorry the files are so big - I edit everything at 96 and just left it at that rate to reduce artifacts.)
 
Thanks again for listening,
 
Laird
 
ALAC - https://mega.nz/file/fNR0XCqL#zfP-spAvOsv_cwuGF00Qc2jJp9n85LP_wxkE3BIuo3k
WAV - https://mega.nz/file/TNxiiYTK#lf3PzbWRl72f88qrs0gjE0wW5Fc5HvwSL0snBfZrYqs
 
 
 
 

Thanks, Jay. Glad you liked it. There is another chunk to follow.

Alas, there was a technical issue which resulting in having to do a lot of clean up to even get to this point. Mike in fact did record locally, and while he could not hear it on his end when we recorded, the issue was there in both his local and my remote recording. We discussed re-recording (Mike kindly volunteering to do so), but he was so open and insightful the first time, I felt we could not capture that magic again. 
 
I do suspect that when Ed (our IndyCast host) recompressed the file, the situation got exacerbated.
 
Here are the uncompressed versions (WAV and ALAC) for those who have not listened already. I'll post an uncompressed link to part 2 when it is ready as well. (Sorry the files are so big - I edit everything at 96 and just left it at that rate to reduce artifacts.)
 
Thanks again for listening,
 
Laird
 
ALAC - https://mega.nz/file/fNR0XCqL#zfP-spAvOsv_cwuGF00Qc2jJp9n85LP_wxkE3BIuo3k
WAV - https://mega.nz/file/TNxiiYTK#lf3PzbWRl72f88qrs0gjE0wW5Fc5HvwSL0snBfZrYqs
 
 
 
 

Thanks, Jay. Glad you liked it. There is another chunk to follow.

Alas, there was a technical issue which resulting in having to do a lot of clean up to even get to this point. Mike in fact did record locally, and while he could not hear it on his end when we recorded, the issue was there in both his local and my remote recording. We discussed re-recording (Mike kindly volunteering to do so), but he was so open and insightful the first time, I felt we could not capture that magic again. 
 
I do suspect that when Ed (our IndyCast host) recompressed the file, the situation got exacerbated.
 
Here are the uncompressed versions (WAV and ALAC) for those who have not listened already. I'll post an uncompressed link to part 2 when it is ready as well. (Sorry the files are so big - I edit everything at 96 and just left it at that rate to reduce artifacts.)
 
Thanks again for listening,
 
Laird
 
ALAC - https://mega.nz/file/fNR0XCqL#zfP-spAvOsv_cwuGF00Qc2jJp9n85LP_wxkE3BIuo3k
WAV - https://mega.nz/file/TNxiiYTK#lf3PzbWRl72f88qrs0gjE0wW5Fc5HvwSL0snBfZrYqs
 
 
 
 

In the new cover story in July 2022's Gramophone issue featuring the Concertos of John Williams, the author references that the Sinfonietta of 1965 was released in 1972 and reviewed that year by the magazine. Curious, I found the old issue - nearly 50 years old - online.
 
https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/33101/spread/1
 
Here are the two pages extracted that talk about Williams. The first page is from there updates section on composers and musical artists. The second page features the review of the disc itself. Alas, the reviewer was not really impressed.
 
I rather like the album (which is long out of print but copies can be found on LP and much more rarely on CD from Japan). It's an early exploration by Williams and just before the Symphony which we will likely never get to hear.
 
 
 
 

Following last week's podcast interview between James Jolly and John Williams, out today is Gramophone's July 2022 issue featuring John Williams on the cover. I believe this is the first time he has ever been on the cover of this venerable classical music magazine although of course not the first time he has been written about in the magazine. (Anne-Sophie Mutter was on the cover following the release of Across the Stars in 2019.)
 
Andrew Farach-Colton writes about William's long history of writing concerti and contains quotations from Leonard Slatkin, Yo-Yo Ma and Anne-Sophie Mutter (but none directly from Williams). The article is a nice survey with particular focus on the first violin concerto (and a bit on the flute), the cello concerto (both versions) and the tuba concerto. Prelude and Fugue (1965) and Sinfonietta (also 1965) get passing mentions as early works. (The author suggests that the latter, recording for DG around 1970, deserves a reissue.) 
 
Nothing really overly revealing within the article although it is a nice read and points to some of the technics (12 tone writing) and how the concerto pieces tend to be without a lot of melody. However, Farach-Colton does note the various influences he senses on Williams - Penderecki and Walton for example. 
 
The issue also contains a combined review of both recent releases - A Gathering of Friends and Violin Concerto No. 2. Alas, neither merits an editor's choice award for the month. In fact, the review feels more descriptive of the discs contents than analytic of the quality.  
 
Oddly - but maybe not - the editor in chief's monthly introduction section contains no mention of the feature article at all instead featuring layout changes within the magazine. 

Unashamedly 

Ah, yes. Certainly from the same session though.
 
Photographer:
"Now look to the right, Masetro. Ok, that's great. Maybe slightly wistful now? Yes, that's it. A bit to the left. Think of those Christmas Cookies from Anne-Sophie... but maybe less delight, perhaps a bit of the guilt about needing to compose some notes? Yes, yes, yes! That's brilliant. You're a star, baby!"
 

In the new cover story in July 2022's Gramophone issue featuring the Concertos of John Williams, the author references that the Sinfonietta of 1965 was released in 1972 and reviewed that year by the magazine. Curious, I found the old issue - nearly 50 years old - online.
 
https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/33101/spread/1
 
Here are the two pages extracted that talk about Williams. The first page is from there updates section on composers and musical artists. The second page features the review of the disc itself. Alas, the reviewer was not really impressed.
 
I rather like the album (which is long out of print but copies can be found on LP and much more rarely on CD from Japan). It's an early exploration by Williams and just before the Symphony which we will likely never get to hear.
 
 
 
 

Actually, that is an image of Atlantis Challenger (good spotting @crumbs) as seen from the Space Station. The image is not from the movie. The marks are used to measure things in the image and are present in the original. That image shows something in the back of the payload bay of the orbiter, and in the film, the bay is empty. But, bizarrely, besides cropping the image, the artist actually flipped the direction of the craft (presumably to represent the sense of going back to earth as is the main drama of the 2nd half of the movie). You can see in the original image the clouds and coastline are the same, but the orbiter correctly points upwards in the process of docking.
 

Actually, that is an image of Atlantis Challenger (good spotting @crumbs) as seen from the Space Station. The image is not from the movie. The marks are used to measure things in the image and are present in the original. That image shows something in the back of the payload bay of the orbiter, and in the film, the bay is empty. But, bizarrely, besides cropping the image, the artist actually flipped the direction of the craft (presumably to represent the sense of going back to earth as is the main drama of the 2nd half of the movie). You can see in the original image the clouds and coastline are the same, but the orbiter correctly points upwards in the process of docking.
 

Actually, that is an image of Atlantis Challenger (good spotting @crumbs) as seen from the Space Station. The image is not from the movie. The marks are used to measure things in the image and are present in the original. That image shows something in the back of the payload bay of the orbiter, and in the film, the bay is empty. But, bizarrely, besides cropping the image, the artist actually flipped the direction of the craft (presumably to represent the sense of going back to earth as is the main drama of the 2nd half of the movie). You can see in the original image the clouds and coastline are the same, but the orbiter correctly points upwards in the process of docking.
 

Actually, that is an image of Atlantis Challenger (good spotting @crumbs) as seen from the Space Station. The image is not from the movie. The marks are used to measure things in the image and are present in the original. That image shows something in the back of the payload bay of the orbiter, and in the film, the bay is empty. But, bizarrely, besides cropping the image, the artist actually flipped the direction of the craft (presumably to represent the sense of going back to earth as is the main drama of the 2nd half of the movie). You can see in the original image the clouds and coastline are the same, but the orbiter correctly points upwards in the process of docking.
 

Actually, that is an image of Atlantis Challenger (good spotting @crumbs) as seen from the Space Station. The image is not from the movie. The marks are used to measure things in the image and are present in the original. That image shows something in the back of the payload bay of the orbiter, and in the film, the bay is empty. But, bizarrely, besides cropping the image, the artist actually flipped the direction of the craft (presumably to represent the sense of going back to earth as is the main drama of the 2nd half of the movie). You can see in the original image the clouds and coastline are the same, but the orbiter correctly points upwards in the process of docking.