The Legacy of John Williams (Website & Podcast)

[QuartalHarmony 753]

Ah, the days when a major film soundtrack release was on CD, cassette and (checks notes) Minidisc!

 

[Richard P 4,612]

Has the phrase 'includes <track/song name>' ever swayed someone into buying an album? I've always found that very bizarre.

 

It's like the marketing people are desperate to have something on the blurb that appears to the regular consumer, and 'Duel of the Fates' just sounds cool.

 

On topic, my guess/hope is we might get The Terminal 20th anniversary either imminently or for BF, and there's whatever Intrada had planned (The Patriot?).

[Meredith McKay 7,489]

10 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

Has the phrase 'includes <track/song name>' ever swayed someone into buying an album? I've always found that very bizarre.

 

 

I mean, it's there, so I would assume at some point it was "necessary" (and I mean in albums general, not soundtracks specifically)

[TownerFan 5,554]

The redoubtable @Miguel Andrade contributed LOJW a lovely article for the 40th anniversary of one of JW's most stirring and beloved pieces that is not written for a motion picture, chronicling its history and giving an overview of its essential recordings:

 

https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2024/10/31/olympic-fanfare-40-years/

[Tallguy 5,230]

As someone who obviously loves John Williams music I am often astonished at how much I love that fanfare.

[Jay 41,617]

🔴 NEW EPISODE! 🎙️
LEGACY CONVERSATIONS: LAURENT BOUZEREAU
The Legacy of John Williams presents an exclusive interview with Laurent Bouzereau, the director of “Music By John Williams,” the documentary film dedicated to the life and career of John Williams, now available for streaming on Disney+.
Laurent sits down for an in-depth talk about the honour and the responsibility of creating the first documentary film on John Williams, his lifelong love for the Maestro's music, the challenges he faced throughout the production and why he made the film thinking about future generations. Joining the conversation is archival soundtrack producer Mike Matessino, who worked as Music Consultant on the documentary.
🎧 LISTEN 👉🏻 https://tinyurl.com/zsm84npp

 

https://www.facebook.com/thelegacyofjohnwilliams/posts/pfbid02H9W2tnVtrH4kPXBAWJc56Sucbyd19zfe6Wyk4rfwZKzNy2erkvGNxPe4pUE22yXHl

 

https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2024/11/18/laurent-bouzereau-podcast/

[Bryant Burnette 747]

7 hours ago, Jay said:

🔴 NEW EPISODE! 🎙️
LEGACY CONVERSATIONS: LAURENT BOUZEREAU
The Legacy of John Williams presents an exclusive interview with Laurent Bouzereau, the director of “Music By John Williams,” the documentary film dedicated to the life and career of John Williams, now available for streaming on Disney+.
Laurent sits down for an in-depth talk about the honour and the responsibility of creating the first documentary film on John Williams, his lifelong love for the Maestro's music, the challenges he faced throughout the production and why he made the film thinking about future generations. Joining the conversation is archival soundtrack producer Mike Matessino, who worked as Music Consultant on the documentary.
🎧 LISTEN 👉🏻 https://tinyurl.com/zsm84npp

 

https://www.facebook.com/thelegacyofjohnwilliams/posts/pfbid02H9W2tnVtrH4kPXBAWJc56Sucbyd19zfe6Wyk4rfwZKzNy2erkvGNxPe4pUE22yXHl

 

https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2024/11/18/laurent-bouzereau-podcast/

 

Hell yeah.

[pete 1,061]

So one of the new pieces Williams has been working on fairly recently is a piece that has three harps.

 

I'm assuming that's in addition to the piano concerto and a new piece for Yo-Yo Ma. We learned last year that there was a piece besides those two that Williams was writing/going to write.

[Holko 11,172]

For whatever reason I never really tried any episodes besides the ones about new releases. Now I decided to go back and listen to the entire series from the start, only a dozen episodes in but holy crap it's great stuff. For anyone feeling like the docu was shallow or didn't ask the right people or edited out too much, this is just perfection! And not even just about JW himself but about his impact, the backstory of the artform and state of the entire industry! Thank you @TownerFan for all this!

[bollemanneke 3,902]

Lovely interview. It's so great to hear the producer being so enthusiastic.

 

Surprising what he said about him telling JW it wouldn't be an interview like the others. You wonder what he tells him in other cases: 'So, John, remember, we're doing this for people who don't really care about what you do?, but more about the movie?'

 

Also, very skilful how he didn't really say how much JW-Spielberg footage he has in total.

 

Amazing that Tim asked about physical release prospects. And how Maurizio says they'll be abck 'very soon.'

 

Actually, Holko is on to something. I kind of want to try and edit podcast bits into the documentary now.

 

I really hope Maurizio will be able to sit down with Spielberg or Columbus one day. And with LSO members. What a privilege to have this podcast.

[BB-8 4,583]

I think it was actually Mike who asked about the physical release prospects, if I remember correctly.

[Holko 11,172]

2 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

 

I really hope Maurizio will be able to sit down with Spielberg

What I'm really hoping for with Spielberg is a book by Mike, based on all his research for his booklets, talks with Marty Cohen etc.

[thx99 1,928]

What @TownerFan has done is nothing short of a miracle!! Along with his various collaborators (e.g., @mahler3, @Miguel Andrade, Mike Matessino, etc.), he's given us real insight into the man, his process, and his impact (as @Holko points out above).  His talks with musicians and others really round out the usual fare we get from the usually film-centric featurettes and the deeper dive of Bouzreau's documentary.

 

It was an honor and privilege to have been able to take part in one of the episodes:  Legacy Conversations: Adam Michalak.  Not sure if you've gotten to that one yet @Holko but my former college mate Adam is an absolute delight and full of great nuggets.

[Holko 11,172]

Nope, I'm still in 2019 only

[Jay 41,617]

On 19/11/2024 at 11:12 AM, Holko said:

For whatever reason I never really tried any episodes besides the ones about new releases. Now I decided to go back and listen to the entire series from the start, only a dozen episodes in but holy crap it's great stuff. For anyone feeling like the docu was shallow or didn't ask the right people or edited out too much, this is just perfection! And not even just about JW himself but about his impact, the backstory of the artform and state of the entire industry! Thank you @TownerFan for all this!

 

This makes me so happy to read!

 

The Matessino episodes of the podcast get more discussion around here, for reasons that are completely understandable.

 

But I've come to appreciate the music of John Williams in a whole new way after listening to the numerous musician interviews Maurizio has released on the feed. I don't know why I never really thought about it before, but coming to understand how many of Williams' scores are the way they are, because he wrote certain parts for certain specific musicians, has been a huge lightbulb moment for me.  It's so fascinating to learn how often he reached out to his collaborators to find certain sounds (like the vocals he wanted for Amistad) or to make sure certain players would be available for certain passages he wanted to write that he knew they could play, etc.  It really makes you realize how much of a collaborative effort these scores we love are, but also doesn't diminish Williams' role at all... it's almost more work for him, as he's not just writing generic music that the general pool of LA musicians could always play - he's finding specific inspiration from the playing they've done for him in the past, to make new music for the future.

 

Really a wonderful series that could go on for a very long time, and I'm glad he's gotten to interview many musicians and collaborators from the earlier days before they can't share their stories any more!

[BB-8 4,583]

The many flash-backs within these podcasts also make me remember how difficult it was in the beginning to actually access the music of John Williams:...waiting at least six months until a movie hit the screen in Europe; leaving the cinema and waking up the next morning humming those wonderful melodies that could make bicycles or light-sabers fly; going to school with fractions of the music spinning around in one's imagination; counting one's pocket money saved for the rare occasion of entering a record shop; the disappointment realizing that the soundtrack hadn't been released in Europe yet or was already sold out; the frustration having to wait until Christmas; finally, the revelation of owning and listening to the OST with all the emotional and deeply imprinting effects that last until today...

[TownerFan 5,554]

This is all really nice. Thank you to all of you for the nice words. I don't take any of this for granted so it's heartwarming to see the appreciation.

 

One of the reasons why I started the project and engaged in making these oral history-type of interviews as part of the podcast show was indeed to provide a kind of documentary-like approach to the subject for the fans who are interested to know more and who are curious to have a larger and perhaps even better understanding of the artform. Even though my life is getting busier than ever, I hope to continue as long as I can.

 

And since I am here, I can confirm there won't be an episode about a new archival release before the end of the year because there won't be a new archival release to talk about for the time being (sorry). BUT... I can say that there will be a new Legacy Conversation episode coming at the end of next week which I hope you'll enjoy. And if stars align, there might be also a little surprise in time for Christmas.

 

Thank you again!

[mahler3 504]

On 19/11/2024 at 5:08 PM, bollemanneke said:

Lovely interview. It's so great to hear the producer being so enthusiastic.

 

Surprising what he said about him telling JW it wouldn't be an interview like the others. You wonder what he tells him in other cases: 'So, John, remember, we're doing this for people who don't really care about what you do?, but more about the movie?'

 

Also, very skilful how he didn't really say how much JW-Spielberg footage he has in total.

 

Amazing that Tim asked about physical release prospects. And how Maurizio says they'll be abck 'very soon.'

 

Actually, Holko is on to something. I kind of want to try and edit podcast bits into the documentary now.

 

I really hope Maurizio will be able to sit down with Spielberg or Columbus one day. And with LSO members. What a privilege to have this podcast.

Glad you enjoyed. It’s actually tricky doing group interviews as it’s easy to talk over each other too much and sometimes you end up wanting to ask the same questions. Thankfully Maurizio and I have known each other long enough to predict what the other is about to say. We have pre prepared notes but we’re careful not to sound like we are reading from a script as it can sound wooden.

 

Mike asked about the physical media release and we were glad to hear that Laurent had been thinking about that the days before our session. We loved how Mike and Laurent were interviewing each other at times.

 

Here’s our LSO members conversation from a few years ago. More are planned for the future so stay tuned as they say in TV land! :-)

 

[kingtolkien 22]

Wonderful interview. My only complaint for the documentary and the interview is that you didnot ask why there were no interviews of his wife, brothers and two sons? Just that. Oh and I really think that the documentary would easily be 30 minutes longer without dragging at all.

[Jay 41,617]

New musician interview!

 

🔴 NEW EPISODE! LEGACY CONVERSATIONS: NEIL PERCY
When it comes to the world of percussion in the orchestral canon, very few musicians in the world can bring to the table the same level of expertise, knowledge and mastery as Neil Percy, the Principal Percussion of the London Symphony Orchestra since 1990 and Head of Timpani and Percussion at the Royal Academy of Music since 2000.
Neil performed in more than 150 film soundtracks, working with such composers as John Williams, James Horner, Patrick Doyle, Trevor Jones and Alexandre Desplat with their music for films such as Harry Potter, Star Wars, Braveheart, to name a very few. His experiences with John Williams are among Neil’s most cherished memories of playing with the LSO, as he matured a sincere love for the Maestro’s music over the years.
In this conversation, Neil Percy sits down with The Legacy of John Williams to talk about his career in music, the fulfilling of his dream of being part of the LSO and his many memories of playing for John Williams on such film scores as STAR WARS and HARRY POTTER, and also on several studio recordings conducted by the Maestro, offering his unique perspective as a percussion player.
🎧 LISTEN 👉🏻 https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/.../neil-percy-podcast/

 

https://www.facebook.com/thelegacyofjohnwilliams/posts/pfbid0yYinnDE4p6y6QUbiGRcK6EzMUVBN2xskrRBNR9StGakS9FEWtt2z48z7qmq6eYNcl

 

https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2024/11/29/neil-percy-podcast/

[Jay 41,617]

You can hear me, @John Takis, @Miguel Andrade, Mike Matessino, Neil S. Bulk, Deniz Cordell, Annie Pasqua, Jeff Bond, and Jon Burlingame on the latest episode of @TownerFan's podcast!

 

 

NEW EPISODE!

 

“SOMEWHERE IN OUR MEMORY”: THE LEGACY OF JOHN WILLIAMS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

 

Sing a song for the glorious season! The Legacy of John Williams presents a special Christmas episode of its podcast series to celebrate the music of the Maestro during this magical, lyrical time of the year together with friends and a few esteemed guests—a Christmas party with friends gathering to exchange wishes and reminiscing what made us fall in love with John Williams’s music when we were kids. For this occasion, Mike Matessino joins Tim Burden and Maurizio Caschetto as co-host of the talk.

 

Kicking off the festivities is journalist, author and lecturer Jon Burlingame, USA’s leading writer on the subject of music for films and television. Burlingame has interviewed John Williams many times over the years, becoming friendly with the composer and chronicling with accurate reporting the many milestones of his career.

 

The talk continues with another renowned authority on film music: author and writer Jeff Bond. Joining afterwards are several first-time guests on the podcast: New York-based musicians Deniz Cordell and Annie Pasqua, soundtrack producer Neil Bulk and LOJW Contributing Writer Miguel Andrade. Returning guests Jason LeBlanc and John Takis round off the table of this special Christmas episode.

 

Grab your favourite Holiday drink, sit down in the comfort of your chair, put the headphones on and feel that gingerbread feeling while listening to this cheerful conversation among friends and connoisseurs, sharing their love for John Williams’s music and going somewhere in their memory to tell about how it all began. Perk your ears also for a few musical gifts and.. Happy Holidays!

 

LISTEN https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/.../podcast.../

 

Available wherever you listen to podcasts!

 

https://www.facebook.com/thelegacyofjohnwilliams/posts/pfbid0r8Sqakm4Dwhh4pwUAnn428VZ5u4teB7u7hNGrmYhDLjPaMjBGA7eVTJ6yezjnijol

 

https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2024/12/23/podcast-christmas-special/

[Meredith McKay 7,489]

Musical gifts?

[bollemanneke 3,902]

What a great idea! I'll spread this out throughout the whole week.

[Amer 2,420]

Great show and such a heartwarming discussion amongst the team. It's always a joy hearing Jon Burlingame talk so warmly about music.

 

Merry Christmas to the Legacy Team! 

[Ricard 2,282]

A wonderful episode indeed, it was a joy to listen to everyone's stories on the origin of their JW fandom.

 

Thank you @TownerFan and everyone involved!

[bollemanneke 3,902]

Not even halfway through, but God, they need to do a 4-hour conversation with Jhhn Burlingame.

[BB-8 4,583]

Listened to parts while basting the turkey...

 

Really enjoyable! What a great trip down Memory Lane!

 

Thank you to all and...Merry Christmas!

[TownerFan 5,554]

Thanks everyone for the nice words. This was a joyful chat for everyone involved and it was great to share our own stories.

 

Happy Holidays everyone!

[GerateWohl 5,717]

I enjoyed the episode as well. Some nice snippets of information. Missed opportunity: At the chat about Williams TV career I find @Thor's John Williams' Television Work walkthrough should have had an honorable mention at least. As at least here in the online fandom this has been a significant contribution of knowledge and research on that rarely discussed topic.

 

I sometimes wonder, if Thor with his obvious lack of interest for expansion is somehow avoided in that round. I remember some unpleasant discussions on FSM around that topic.

 

Anyway, of course everyone can talk about or ommit on his podcast whatever he wants. I just personally think, crossing these streams sometimes could be fruitful for everyone involved. But probably none of my business. 

[bollemanneke 3,902]

Annie Pasqua sounds so inspired!

And thanks be to Mike for formulating my general annoyance with a JW OST so eloquently: what is the goal here? What are you worried about? How many people do you think are really going to buy this and care that you chose this or chose that? 

And the Believe story! Hmm... 

[Thor 9,194]

On 29/12/2024 at 2:49 PM, GerateWohl said:

I enjoyed the episode as well. Some nice snippets of information. Missed opportunity: At the chat about Williams TV career I find @Thor's John Williams' Television Work walkthrough should have had an honorable mention at least. As at least here in the online fandom this has been a significant contribution of knowledge and research on that rarely discussed topic.

 

I sometimes wonder, if Thor with his obvious lack of interest for expansion is somehow avoided in that round. I remember some unpleasant discussions on FSM around that topic.

 

Anyway, of course everyone can talk about or ommit on his podcast whatever he wants. I just personally think, crossing these streams sometimes could be fruitful for everyone involved. But probably none of my business. 

 

I appreciate that, GerateWohl, but it's okay that it wasn't brought up. The podcast series is there for everyone interested, whether it's 2 people or 100, or beyond. It was a personal passion project for a very niche subject, and I don't expect it to have any kind of wide exposure, or mentioning.

[Jurassic Shark 14,491]

4 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

I appreciate that, GerateWohl, but it's okay that it wasn't brought up. The podcast series is there for everyone interested, whether it's 2 people or 100, or beyond. It was a personal passion project for a very niche subject, and I don't expect it to have any kind of wide exposure, or mentioning.

 

My soundtrack geek wish for 2025 is that you turn this series of podcasts into a book.

[Thor 9,194]

 I wish!

Jeff Eldridge is the man to do such a book, even moreso than Jon Burlingame. Of course, I doubt he has the interest, time or stamina to do all those audio rips like I did, but his knowledge on the subject is more extensive than mine.

[Jurassic Shark 14,491]

7 minutes ago, Thor said:

his knowledge on the subject is more extensive than mine.

 

Well, that doesn't matter much if he's not going to write about it.

[bollemanneke 3,902]

God, I wish I could listen to hours and hours of this kind of outtake chit chat...

[igger6 983]

Heading back to catch up on the Neil Percy interview.  @TownerFan, can you share which recording excerpt plays just after the 31:00 mark?  I believe it's a recording of "The Battle" from the ANH concert suite, and I assume it's the LSO. 

[Miguel Andrade 1,456]

8 hours ago, igger6 said:

Heading back to catch up on the Neil Percy interview.  @TownerFan, can you share which recording excerpt plays just after the 31:00 mark?  I believe it's a recording of "The Battle" from the ANH concert suite, and I assume it's the LSO. 

 

You can check the list of pieces included on this page (scroll to the end): https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2024/11/29/neil-percy-podcast/

[Mr. Breathmask 582]

I always love to hear people's "origin stories". There's always a new one. It so perfectly underlines the longevity and diversity of Williams' career.

[Jay 41,617]

The latest podcast episode is a 34 minute conversation between @TownerFan and @mahler3 about The Patriot, that also debuts a track from the upcoming expanded release!
 

https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2025/01/17/exclusive-preview-the-patriot/

[Dr. Rick 1,279]

Another possible tease toward the end of the podcast of more releases coming soon?  Let the predictions begin!  

 

Aside from the obvious SW & IJ, I'm hoping for CMIYC and Terminal, always loved those scores.

It's also the 30th anniversary of Nixon this year, perhaps this was the 2nd Intrada release that was teased two years ago by them?

 

[Edmilson 10,053]

1 hour ago, Dr. Rick said:

It's also the 30th anniversary of Nixon this year, perhaps this was the 2nd Intrada release that was teased two years ago by them?

 

Yeah, now that The Patriot already happened the Oliver Stone scores are my biggest John Williams holy grails aside from the obvious SW/IJ stuff.

 

Actually, I think the Stone scores are even more urgent than SW and Indy. They at least have older editions, bootlegs or isolated scores to keep us warm until the expansion happens (hopefully in our lifetime), but for Nixon and JFK we don't even have a bootleg recording sessions! We're stuck with the OSTs for the time being.

[Richard P 4,612]

And with something like The Terminal, I wouldn't be clamouring for an expansion anywhere near as much had Williams put a few more cues on the OST and made the ending a little more representative of the film. I'm sure the rest of the unreleased music is perfectly nice, but I haven't seen the film in years and it always struck me as more of the same.

[Meredith McKay 7,489]

37 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Yeah, now that The Patriot already happened the Oliver Stone scores are my biggest John Williams holy grails aside from the obvious SW/IJ stuff. Actually, I think the Stone scores are even more urgent than SW and Indy. They at least have older editions, bootlegs or isolated scores to keep us warm until the expansion happens (hopefully in our lifetime), but for Nixon and JFK we don't even have a bootleg recording sessions! We're stuck with the OSTs for the time being.

We do have the sheets and BD rips correct?

[Smaug The Iron 616]

9 hours ago, Dr. Rick said:

Aside from the obvious SW & IJ, I'm hoping for CMIYC and Terminal, always loved those scores.

Me too! The Terminal is now my nr 1 Holy Grail Williams score that is not Star Wars/Indy. And I would really like CMIYC as well. 

[KittBash 321]

I'm so torn about listening to this now... I mean YES I'm ABSOLUTELY going to listen to it but I kinda want to save it for when the discs arrive. 

[Chewy 2,657]

2 hours ago, KittBash said:

I'm so torn about listening to this now... I mean YES I'm ABSOLUTELY going to listen to it but I kinda want to save it for when the discs arrive. 

Do it! It doesn't spoil anything and it will probably hype you even more for the release 

[Meredith McKay 7,489]

15 minutes ago, Chewy said:

Do it! It doesn't spoil anything and it will probably hype you even more for the release 

Nice try, Sith Lord Kermit.

[KittBash 321]

Ok so I was completely wrong about waiting to listen to this episode... I'm now more hyped then ever for my copy to arrive great episode @TownerFan & @mahler3!!!

 

Can't wait to hear you talk to Mike M and John Takis about this one!

[Richard P 4,612]

On 18/01/2025 at 7:17 AM, Smaug The Iron said:

Me too! The Terminal is now my nr 1 Holy Grail Williams score that is not Star Wars/Indy. And I would really like CMIYC as well. 

 

Same - I really hope LLL has got The Terminal up their sleeves for a nice 20th anniversary set.

 

I suspect that were CMIYC more to my tastes (it's not), it might overtake because it seems there might be more unreleased from CMIYC?

[Amer 2,420]

I would love to see a C&C of MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA but its lies on borderline cut off date (July 2005) on the AFM Fee structure waiver. So it would be a miracle to have this out. One could just wish. Does anyone the recordings dates of this score?