CinemaScope ( Orchestrations for Piano)
After the release of Gloryland; my first foray at a solo
piano recording, the mind lay bare. I’d circle the piano looking for
inspiration and nothing seemed eminent. I then started concentrating on my
other passion; photography and began posting a series of rare vintage
photographs of Hollywood. In doing so I came across a photo of Natalie Wood when suddenly imagination
sprang to life. Wood was the mystery
girl just out of reach – big screen desire during the 60s. A few days pass then pen once again hits
paper. As I begin to improvise it dawns
on me, much of what I do is based on creating a visual image through sound.
Screening great cinema is a matter of practice in this
house. For years I’ve rummaged through specialty bins in various off centre
video outlets scanning for movies of influence, creativity – those that leave a
lasting impression and tell a small story in an expansive manner. Big budget
films tantalize but rarely satisfy - this is why I acquired the habit of forging
A-Z through the history of foreign and domestic films – the directors, actors,
composers, and producers.
CinemaScope arrives as my response to the world around me, much
of it shaped by film. The twelve compositions orchestrated for piano occur in various
regions of the mind and soul channeled through persons, places and celluloid
time.
There are films that linger beyond youth which continue to cling
to the heart. In this cacophonous
zone – ‘Splendor in the Grass,’ starring Warren Beatty
and Natalie Wood inhabits that
district. Rather than interpret from what is already scripted I chose to write
my way through emotions felt and recalled and create an original body of work. Cinema
is about preserving grand beauty as with everything Audrey Hepburn, – thus “Audrey in Silk.”
There were those marvelous Newsreels before the
feature; languid western scenes battered by penetrating heat where the cool down
of night brought life to parched earth ; Desert Orchid, Urbane motifs burning
inside the storied jazz clubs and side streets of dimly lit metropolitan areas ; Strayhorn,
a child labouring away at the piano as life played out in small towns; The
Last Piano Lesson, lovers on a balcony; Just Us, children scarred
and born through war the far side of the world; The Amerasian Suite,
night shadowing mountains as the veil of darkness shelters denizens; Clear Mountain
Moon, a sensuous
Latino woman deep in sleep on her veranda with a single rose clinging to her
hair; Carmen’s Veranda, the last leaves of autumn covering the cattle worn
trails of Wyoming; Cheyenne Autumn, and the world in flux - a universe within a
universe; That’s the Way of the World – spinning life and adventure at a
dizzying pace.
Great movie scores never interfere with the narrative. Most
every film composer has an orchestrator to translate, fashion and arrange the
instruments to address the storyline. Film has given us the very best – Leonard Bernstein – West Side Story and On The Waterfront, Alex North, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, Jerry Goldsmith ‘Chinatown’,
Elmer Bernstein’ The Magnificent Seven’,
Bernard Herman ‘Taxi Driver’ , the Graduate,
Superfly, O Brother, Where Art Thou, True Grit, Star Wars, Jaws…
CinemaScope is improvisation
and scripted music, the joyful aural landscape I travel unrestricted.
From here life is an unfinished soundtrack with new sections
added daily; evolving themes, counterpoint, transitions, moods, and strange
industrial instruments that sound off without invitation.
A depth a gratitude to Gary
Slaight and Derrick Ross for
seeing this project through to completion. The generosity of Slaight Music and continued confidence
and support is graciously embraced. Few in the music industry advocate and
support such a diverse range of musical styles.
A loud sustained applause for engineer Mike Haas for being the cheerful intuitive architect behind the
expansive console. Mike’s work is pure genius!
Bill King 2012
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