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Anatomy of a Murder (Music from the Duke Ellington Score) is the original motion picture soundtrack for the 1959 film Anatomy of a Murder.
| Anatomy of a Murder | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 1959 | |||
| Recorded | May 29 and June 1–2, 1959 Radio Recorders, Los Angeles | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Label | Columbia CS 8166 (stereo) / CL 1360 (mono) | |||
| Duke Ellington chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
The jazz score of Anatomy of a Murder was composed by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn and played by Ellington's orchestra. Several of Ellington band's sidemen, including Jimmy Hamilton, Jimmy Johnson, Ray Nance, and Jimmy Woode appear, and Ellington himself plays the character Pie Eye.[1]
Mervyn Cooke, in the History of Film Music, asserts that despite being heard "in bits and pieces" the score "contains some of his most evocative and eloquent music... and beckons with the alluring scent of a femme fatale." Including small pieces by Billy Strayhorn, film historians recognize it "as a landmark—the first significant Hollywood film music by African Americans comprising non-diegetic music, that is, music whose source is not visible or implied by action in the film, like an on-screen band." The score avoids cultural stereotypes which previously characterized jazz scores and "rejected a strict adherence to visuals in ways that presaged the New Wave cinema of the '60s."[2]
The soundtrack album, containing 13 tracks, was released by Columbia Records on May 29, 1959. A CD was released on April 28, 1995, and reissued by Sony in a deluxe edition in 1999.[3]
Reception
Detroit Free Press music critic Mark Stryker concluded: "Though indispensable, I think the score is too sketchy to rank in the top echelon among Ellington-Strayhorn masterpiece suites like Such Sweet Thunder and The Far East Suite, but its most inspired moments are their equal."[4] The score employs a "handful of themes, endlessly recombined and re-orchestrated. Ellington never wrote a melody more seductive than the hip-swaying "Flirtibird", featuring the "irresistibly salacious tremor" by Johnny Hodges on the alto saxophone." A stalking back-beat barely contains the simmering violence of the main title music" The score is heavily dipped in "the scent of the blues and Ellington's orchestra bursts with color."[4] The AllMusic review by Bruce Eder awarded the album 3 stars and called it "a virtuoso jazz score—moody, witty, sexy, and—in its own quiet way—playful".[5]
Ellington's score won three Grammy Awards in 1959, for Best Performance by a Dance Band, Best Musical Composition First Recorded and Released in 1959 and Best Sound Track Album.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [7] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [6] |
Track listing
All tracks are written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, except as indicated
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Main Title/Anatomy of a Murder" | 3:57 |
| 2. | "Flirtibird" | 2:14 |
| 3. | "Way Early Subtone" | 3:59 |
| 4. | "Hero to Zero" | 2:11 |
| 5. | "Low Key Lightly" | 3:39 |
| 6. | "Happy Anatomy" (band-movie version) | 2:35 |
| 7. | "Midnight Indigo" | 2:46 |
| 8. | "Almost Cried" (studio) | 2:26 |
| 9. | "Sunswept Sunday" | 1:53 |
| 10. | "Grace Valse" | 2:30 |
| 11. | "Happy Anatomy" (P.I. Five version[a]) | 1:28 |
| 12. | "Haupe" | 2:36 |
| 13. | "Upper and Outest" | 2:23 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Anatomy of a Murder" (stereo single) | 2:44 |
| 15. | "Merrily Rolling Along (aka Hero to Zero)/Sunswept Sunday" (movie stings & rehearsal) | 3:49 |
| 16. | "Beer Garden" | 1:53 |
| 17. | "Happy Anatomy" (band-studio five version) | 2:43 |
| 18. | "Polly (aka Grace Valse, Haupe, Low Key Lightly, Midnight Indigo)" | 3:35 |
| 19. | "Polly" (movie stings) | 3:54 |
| 20. | "Happy Anatomy" (Dixieland version) | 2:15 |
| 21. | "More Blues" | 2:15 |
| 22. | "Almost Cried (aka Flirtibird)" (P.I. Five/movie version) | 2:13 |
| 23. | "Soundtrack Music: Anatomy of a Murder (Duke Ellington a la Guy Lombardo)" | 2:29 |
| 24. | "Anatomy of a Murder" (mono single in stereo) | 2:36 |
| 25. | "The Grand Finale (Rehearsal/Lines/Interview/Music/Stings/Murder)" | 10:47 |
Personnel
- Duke Ellington: piano
- Cat Anderson, Shorty Baker, Herbie Jones, Clark Terry, Gerald Wilson: trumpet
- Ray Nance: trumpet, violin
- Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman: trombone
- John Sanders: valve trombone
- Jimmy Hamilton: clarinet, tenor saxophone
- Johnny Hodges: alto saxophone
- Russell Procope: alto saxophone, clarinet
- Paul Gonsalves: tenor saxophone
- Harry Carney: baritone saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet
- Jimmy Woode: bass
- James Johnson: drums
References
- ^ "Anatomy of a Murder". Library of Congress. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ Cooke, Mervyn (2008). History of Film Music. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-01048-1.
- ^ "A Duke Ellington Panorama". Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
- ^ a b Stryker, Mark (January 20, 2009). "Ellington's Score Still Celebrated". Detroit Free Press.
- ^ a b Eder, B. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
- ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 69. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 436. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
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