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Pollock
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Composed, Conducted, and Produced by:
Jeff Beal
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LABEL & RELEASE DATE
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ALBUM AVAILABILITY
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Regular U.S. release, but out of print as of 2007.
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AWARDS
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None.
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ALSO SEE
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Buy it... if you are prepared for a sobering and uneasy work of
moody contemplation that compliments the mentality of the title artist
in its shifty tones.
Avoid it... if you expect an undemanding listening experience that
expresses itself clearly and consistently.
BUY IT
Pollock: (Jeff Beal) Actor Ed Harris worked for an
entire decade to produce a film about 1950's artist Jackson Pollock, a
flash in the pan sensation in New York before his death in car crash.
Portraying the manic depression-suffering artist was Harris' original
goal, though he eventually decided to attempt to direct the film as
well. If you are one of those people familiar with the artwork of
Pollock, you'll know that it is largely spontaneous and obscure in its
expression of emotion and thought. When producing, directing, and
starring in the award-winning film about the man's troubled personal
life, Harris had a very specific sound in mind for the score. He knew
that certain aspects of the real life man should play a part in the
score, including a slight preference for jazz and an experience that
involved a banjo. After rejecting the preliminary works of two other
composers, Harris finally heard the kind of music he wanted for the film
from Jeff Beal. An entire score had been recorded by Donald Rubinstein
for the picture (eventually released on limited CD in 2007), and while
there has never been a confirmed published report about the identity of
the other composer, some believe it was Tom Waits. Known throughout
circles of jazz followers as a contemporary performer and composer of
that genre, Beal's work had previously combined jazzy instrumentation
and rhythm with classical overtones. As ultimately the chosen match for
Harris' project, Beal's score for Pollock would be critically
embraced inside and outside of the industry, though it was largely
overlooked by mainstream film score collectors. One of the most
intriguing aspects of Pollock is the basic fact that the film
presented one of those rare opportunities for a composer to paint an
aural picture of the mind frame of an artist hard at work. Cinematically
speaking, such rare moments in film offer their music the chance to
dominate entire scenes during which the artist toils with the transfer
of thought and idea to canvas. Arguably the most successful score to
ever accomplish this was John Ottman's Incognito a few years
prior, but that film's frenetic energy was conceived from a much larger
and riskier sense of elegance.
For Pollock, Beal was restrained by the
introverted nature of the story, accompanying its inherent darkness on a
personal level. That, of course, entailed a smaller performing group
consisting of a limited string section, banjo, piano, solo horn, and a
varied percussion section. With these elements, the tone of Beal's score
ranges from a mood of somber reflection to that of triumphant
expression. While its intensity remains low during its lengthy cues of
conversational underscore, the score maintains a consistent aspect of
uncertainty and fluid motion. Successful in keeping the rhythmic pace of
the score at a minimum volume, Beal never loses touch of the artistic
motion always (in some capacity or another) within the title character.
Perhaps a manipulation of his experience with jazz, the rhythmic element
of the score, even if not performed by an impressive array of players,
is what creates the heart of the music. There may not be warm or easy
thematic development in Pollock, though the slightly dissonant
nature of Beal's layers in the composition serves the artist's mentality
well. The most impressive single moment of the score, as mentioned
elsewhere, comes in "Stroke of Genius." As to be expected, this cue of
flowing artistic creation, jumbled slightly in a haphazard fashion, is
exactly the sort of rare moment of expression described above. Even at
these heights of engagement, the score for Pollock on album will
not by any means overwhelm you. It is a score best suited for the
context of its film, where it functions as almost a character in and of
itself. Because of this important role in the film, the album is likely
to be a fine souvenir for those who appreciate Harris' production. For
the average film score collector, however, the product may be alienating
without the vital context in which it was conceived. The mixing and
arrangement of the album presentation yields a personal and intimate
small studio sound. Two unique aspects of the mix worth mentioning are
the repeating source dialogue heard over the score cue "The Mural Goes
On & On" (which doesn't hinder the music because it fits in like another
instrumental element), and a previously unreleased recording of Tom
Waits' song "World Keeps Turning." Overall, this score is a sobering and
uneasy work of moody contemplation.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
Rejecting how?
Justin Boggan - January 12, 2006, at 11:33 a.m. |
1 comment (2340 views) |
Total Time: 44:41
• 1. Alone in a Crowd (2:14)
• 2. Beauty from Pain (1:55)
• 3. One Man Show (2:02)
• 4. The Window (1:37)
• 5. Stroke of Genius (3:57)
• 6. Plant Your Garden (2:12)
• 7. Stroke by Stroke (2:45)
• 8. Breaking the Rules (2:27)
• 9. Art of this Century (1:04)
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• 10. The Look (2:45)
• 11. A Life's Work (1:27)
• 12. Empty (2:42)
• 13. A Letter from Lee (1:52)
• 14. The World Keeps Turning - performed by Tom Waits (4:14)
• 15. Unfinished (4:08)
• 16. The Mural Goes On & On (2:41)
• 17. She Played the Banjo (4:31)
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The insert includes notes by Jeff Beal, Ed Harris, and Jackson Pollock.
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