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Review by Bill Binkelman This "high concept" compilation album had "disaster" written all over it, but somehow the artists involved rescued it for the most part. Charged with taking compositions or themes from well-known (or even somewhat obscure films) and reworking them, these Windham Hill artists managed to come up with some gems, some pretty decent variations, and at least one verifiable stinker. On the whole, the album is satisfying, as even Kathryn (my wife) enjoyed hearing it while she worked at her computer and she is more difficult to please when it comes to something like this, having a lower tolerance for cheese than yours truly. As stated above, some of these themes will be instantly recognizable ("Over the Rainbow played by pianist Jim Brickman and "As Time Goes By" interpreted by violinist Stéphane Grappelli), some will become familiar once you tie the film's title to the melody ("Calling You" from Bagdad Cafe, as done by Joan Jeanrenaud and Paul McCandless or "Scarborough Fair" from The Graduate revisited by Fred Simon) and still others will either be relatively unfamiliar themes from well-known movies (e.g. "Hedwig's Theme" from the first Harry Potter film, interpreted by Tracy Silverman, Philip Aaberg's spirited rendition of "The Farmer's Dance" from Babe, and Alex de Grassi's solid version of the theme from The Princess Bride). Of those listed above, I liked Simon's delicate and haunting version of "Scarborough Fair" and Aaberg's neo-Celtic influenced joyful "The Farmer's Dance" the most. Other tracks I enjoyed that are less recognizable included George Winston's softly played rendition of the theme to The Black Stallion, which could just as easily be one of his own compositions (in reality, it was written by the film's producer's brother, Carmine Coppola). Kathryn loved the quirky dissonance and whimsy of "Hedwig's Theme" which is captured by Silverman's violin, viola, and keyboards. However, even knowing it's from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone, the connection is still tough to make. To my ears, the worst track here is undeniably Phillippe Saisse's woefully misinterpreted variation of Michel Legrand's classic theme to the seminal coming of age film, Summer of '42. The piece is known as "Summer Knows" (or "The Summer Knows" depending on what you read). Things start off fine, in a soft sepia-tone fashion with haunting piano and strings, but whoa! When Saisse introduces smooth jazz elements (what's with the bluesy jazz trumpet and funky rhythms???), the track heads straight into Holiday Inn cocktail lounge territory. Not exactly the treatment I would give to music associated with nostalgia, romance, and lost innocence, but hey, whatever cleans your clock, I guess. It sure doesn't evoke memories of Jennifer O'Neill standing on her porch silhouetted by the rising sun, though. What a shame. Film music fans should enjoy the majority of this album, and most of the artists do solid work, whether their interpretations were bolder or hewed close to the originals. I wouldn't mind Windham Hill taking another go round at this in the future. |
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