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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... for the vintage and re-recorded jazz classics that were the reason the film was made. Avoid it... if you're a James Horner collector who would need to navigate through the jazz to get to the drab and uninspired underscore. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
To say that Horner's underscore in Swing Kids is overshadowed by the jazz is an understatement. To discuss the actual 23 minutes of score available on the commercial album, a disclaimer must be made right at the start that Horner seems to have bowed to the jazz music in the sense that he doesn't really attempt write music that competes with it. Fully orchestral, the score rumbles in the depths of heavily mixed bass strings, with neo-classical chord progressions ominously churning the background as an adult choir (as opposed to his usual children's or strictly women's choirs) sometimes coveys vocals with the same style as in the opening and closing of Red Heat. A sense of urgency in the deliberate snare and cymbal-tapping is defied by the often excruciatingly slow tempo of his cues. Perhaps this is just an illusion due to the score being surrounded by such quick jazz pieces. But compared to other applicable war material by Horner, including Enemy at the Gates in a most related sense, only the tolling of chimes really ties this material to such similar assignments. As the film has difficulty pinpointing the exact personalities of the kids, and their reasons for doing what they do, Horner stays away from the murky waters of such personalities. In fact, he provides no thematic material throughout the film, further allowing his score to slip away very quickly from memory. The jazz, on the other hand, was obviously the main intent for making the film, and even down to its louder mixing on album, the producers had the jazz first and foremost on their minds. And the jazz is very good in most cases, with a strong selection from the era appearing in the film. The album is an extreme disappointment, however. Viewers of the film will want a compilation of the jazz heard in its length, and Horner collectors will have only a 50-50 chance of being even remotely interested in that jazz. Unfortunately, the album mixes the two elements, mingling score tracks in between jazz (both vintage and re-recorded), causing both to suffer. The album was badly in need of separation of these two halves of music, because Horner's score does little more than cast a shadow over Benny Goodman. As for Horner's part, the slight inspiration of individuality in the final cue cannot compensate for the extremely drab nature of the score's entirety. **
* score composed by James Horner
The insert notes include information about the jazz songs used in the film. Extensive credits are provided. Notable Performers: Abe Most, Dan Higgins, Robert Tricarico, Gene Cipriano, Curt McGettrick (saxophones & woodwinds), Jerry Hey, Gary Grant, Larry Hall, Chuck Findley (trumpets), Bill Reichenbach, Lloyd Ulyate, John Johnson (trombones), Sid Page (violin), Michael Lang (piano), Dennis Budimir, Dean Parks (guitars), Ken Wild, Chuck Domonico (bass), Ralph Humphrey (drums). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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