Well, dear readers, it is October. I ask you, where else on all the Internet can you find such information? Nowhere, that’s where. October, a month of merriment and mirth and laughter and legs, and hopefully happiness and health and prosperity and creativity for one and all and also all and one. Of course, it boggles the mind and minds the boggle that it is October. Wasn’t it just January? I tell you, this year has flown by, like a gazelle in a steam room. I gotta tell you. Soon it will be 2010: The Year We Make Contact. In any case, it’s October and let’s all send our most excellent vibes and xylophones for a happy, healthy, prosperous, and wonderful October. I had a rather pleasant last day of September. I got up super early, went to my 9:00 meeting at LACC, which went well, and then I headed over to the tape transfer place. I heard a little of the two scores we’re putting out as a two-fer – one of them is an all-time holy grail for me, and the other has a sumptuous score by the same composer. The sound was terrific and this, for me, will be the release of the year, Kritzerland-wise, that is if we can manage to get it out this year. This is dealing with a new studio and I’m told they take a little longer approving things and they’re very strict about how the notes are written – I don’t really know what that means, so I’ll just write them the way I always do and hope for the best. If all goes according to Hoyle, I’d make this our just before Christmas release. It took quite some time to lock this up and I am so excited about it, not only to release these two wonderful scores, but because of the door that it’s opened, a door marked nevermore that wasn’t there before. What am I, Johnny Mercer all of a sudden? After that, even though I was in my motor car I was walking on air, and I cannot wait to get my CD refs come this Friday. I then came back to the San Fernando Valley and went directly to Hugo’s, where I had some pasta papa (no Caesar salad) and did some work I had to do. From there I went to the mail place and picked up two count them two packages. I then came home and did an editing road map for one of the two titles on our next release, and sent that to the mastering guy. I’m going to re-sequence the other score, but that will wait until the weekend and it won’t be too hard. We’re planning to announce this fantastic release next Wednesday or so and you dear readers will, of course, have first crack at something I think will be very, very popular, and not just with film music fans. That was all more work than I thought I’d be doing, but it had to be done and hence I did it. After all that, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I decided to watch an HD motion picture I’d recorded to the DVR – Judgment At Nuremburg, a three-hour motion picture if ever there was one. I hadn’t seen it in quite some time, and I’ve only ever seen the film twice anyway. All I can tell you is, watching this film and its amazingly amazing cast, puts today’s actors to shame. These people had faces, voices, uniqueness. Every single one of them, from the smallest to the largest roles. Full credit to Stanley Kramer for his casting – he may not be the most artful filmmaker who ever lived, but he’s serviceable and gets the job done, and he hit it out of the park with this cast. Starting with the wonderful Spencer Tracy – there is an extraordinary scene in the film with Tracy at a restaurant and a drunken Richard Widmark. Widmark has pages of dialogue while Tracy just sits there, listening and occasionally reacting. It’s a textbook lesson in film acting – he and Widmark are in the same shot and Widmark is talking up a storm and the ONLY person you’re watching is Tracy. There are wonderful performances by Marlene Dietrich, Burt Lancaster, Ray Teal (one of my favorite character actors), William Shatner, Widmark, and a whole slew of great supporting people. And there are two devastating performances – one by Montgomery Clift and one by Judy Garland and let me tell you the latter is not in Kansas anymore. And Maximilian Schell is breathtaking in his intensity. The script by Abby Mann is compelling and beautifully written – the film is not always easy to watch and I, in fact, too a break at the halfway point and took a drive over to Amoeba and traded in about fifty DVDs. I got quite a lot of credit, and used only a tiny bit of it. Then I came home and watched the second half, which is why I’m getting to these here notes so late.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because, after all, it’s October, and here’s hoping that the tenth month is a wonderful one.
The tenth month – can you believe it? I also listened to the first five tracks of the new Barbra Streisand CD. I’ve heard nothing but “this is the second coming” about this CD, but, so far, for me, it’s not. Of course, after the hype and the comments I’ve read nothing could live up to that. What I’ve heard is certainly nice, and I can never get enough Johnny Mandel orchestrations, but this CD is produced by Diana Krall, a singer I find very studied and pretentious, and I’m afraid a little of that seeps into these performances. The way certain words are hit overdramatically, something I’ve never really heard Streisand do before – it’s not that the intention isn’t good or the interpretation isn’t right, it’s just not subtle – it’s like making sure we GET IT. And on a technical level I really don’t care for the reverb they’ve used on her voice, and on the first track she’s so forward in the mix it’s actually a little uncomfortable to listen to. But, I’ll listen to the rest and then to the quartet versions – it’s always nice to have a new Streisand CD and I’m sure this will grow on me.
Today, I really must do the long jog, and then I really must write the liner notes for our next release, and then I really must try to relax, but I just don’t think that will be happening until the afternoon. So, I guess I’ll just have to wait for the weekend to have my two days off, and I am here to tell you I will not take any work-related calls other than my mastering guy, IF he should call.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, I must write liner notes, I must eat something reasonable, and then I must watch a motion picture or two. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Streisand albums, and what is your all-time favorite Streisand track. I actually have a three-way tie: Autumn, Have I Stayed Too Long At The Fair, and My Lord And Master. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we welcome the tenth month – October, and here’s wishing (because we cannot say it enough) for a month of happiness, health, prosperity, and creativity for all.