OSCAR PETERSON
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In 1991, celebrated jazz pianist and composer Oscar Peterson became Chancellor of York University – another honor bestowed upon the award-winning artist – and in 1992 he was profiled in a well-received NFB documentary, In the Key of Oscar.
In the intervening years, Peterson continued to tour and record albums, and in 2002 his autobiography was published as Jazz Odyssey (Continuum International Publishing Group). An official tribute website also includes career and music-related links, writings, and discographical material, but it’s still rather curious that Peterson’s only original feature film score, The Silent Partner (1978), has yet to receive a CD release.
The rapid standardization of CDs as the dominant audio format has meant many recordings on vinyl have been rendered as obscure, if not completely forgotten; but that’s probably not why a CD of The Silent Partner has remained so elusive.
Long a cult film, Silent was made by an intriguing collection of names, some of whom became icons: executive producer Garth Drabinsky later co-founded Cineplex, which radically influenced movie-going during the 1980s by erecting multiple, dinky-sized screening rooms in shopping malls, and patented the multiplex theatrical exhibition model for better and worse; Joel Michaels subsequently produced the cult films The Changeling and The Philadelphia Experiment , and re-teamed with Drabinsky for the engaging 2003 Biblical epic, The Gospel of John; and screenwriter/co-producer Curtis Hanson picked up an Oscar for co-writing the outstanding L.A. Confidential; and billed as executive producers were future Carolco founders Mario Kassar, and Andrew Vajna.
The film enjoyed a theatrical release in 1978 (plus an effectively creepy ad campaign, using Christopher Plummer’s gleaming, malevolent eyes), and was a high profile Canadian production at a time when a substantive portion of domestic feature length films were made as tax shelter vehicles.
During the late-seventies/early eighties, a number of bad films were birthed during this controversial period, and among the more infamous are Circle of Two , in which poor Jules Dassin was dragged out of retirement to the Toronto Islands to film a pretentious love story between womanizing painter Richard Burton and Columbo-obsessed Tatum O’Neal; The Kidnapping of the President, with William Shatner as a key character in Charles Templeton’s best-selling novel that was actually set in Toronto, and not Any City, U.S.A.; and Fast Company, in which David Cronenberg got to film fast-moving cars, but had to meet an encroaching winter deadline so investors could reap the savings. (Both the Alliance-Atlantis and Blue Underground DVDs share a commentary track by Cronenberg, who details the restrictive schedules and weirdities of shooting a tax shelter quickie.)
Silent Partner may not have been made as a straight shelter vehicle, but aside from theatrical exhibition, an early VHS release in North America, and TV airings on Toronto ‘s City TV and Pay TV stations, the film never made the leap to Laserdisc, or DVD.
For the film’s soundtrack, its availability has also been less diverse: a long out-of-print cassette tape, and LP from Pablo. The reasons could be legal rights, straightforward corporate apathy, or the classic dilemma of a lesser-known title that’s been overshadowed and forgotten by more high-profile titles in the Pablo back catalogue.
Less evident, though maybe equally to blame, is the fact that film scoring was simply not a major branch in Peterson’s career. Peterson’s live performances have appeared on film and early CBC programs, and his music was featured in some notable NFB shorts by Norman McLaren, but film scoring was never a career the composer took much further.
In the straightforward Q&A below, Peterson discusses his involvement with The Silent Partner , and one senses in him some regret in not being able to fully exploit the opportunity as a hands-on endeavor. Perhaps a curious footnote in his extraordinarily rich music career, The Silent Partner remains an intriguing creative anomaly.
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Mark R. Hasan: How did you become involved in the film? Was it the producer or director Daryl Duke that contacted you?
Oscar Peterson: It was the producer, Joel Michaels, who asked me to write the music. [At the time] I was heading for Japan , and I had a time limit and an upcoming tour, and unfortunately their film was running a little late. So instead of scoring the whole film, Joel asked me if I could lay out the melodic end, and he brought out a gentleman [named Ken Wannberg] to score it.
MRH : It worked out fairly well –
OS : No, it’s not really the way I wanted to do it, to be very frank with you. I usually work with Rick Wilkins on that kind of thing, and work a little tighter to make it sound the way [I] want. But there was no way around [the schedule], so I had to go for it as it was.
MRH : Have you composed for any feature films since then?
OS : No, because I haven’t had the time, plus doing films – unless I know the producer or director – I’m not crazy about it. About a year ago I had a talk with [Quincy Jones] and the problems with that. You get into the fact that you might write an awful lot of music that you’re very proud of. The next thing you know, by the time you’re finished, they’ve chopped your music up so badly you might not recognized it. It has to be a friendly situation where they’re tolerant on both sides. I’ve had a couple of offers recently, and I’m looking at one right now for a Canadian film, but again it’s the same problem: you have to fight to get heard.
MRH : Would you have preferred a couple of weeks more to do the scoring and had an opportunity to actually sit down with the director?
OS : Yes, I’d like to sit down and be there when they do the cutting and so forth. Then you have much more control over it. When it comes to the editing, that’s when it gets chopped up. You have to be there to protect you’re own rights. You have to retain some kind of control over the score, because if you don’t, you’re going to get run over.
MRH : Perhaps part of the problem was also budgetary: judging from the soundtrack that was used in the film, it wasn’t a large group that was used.
OS : No. [Ken Wannberg] didn’t use a large orchestra, and the themes were written for a large orchestra. First of all, you really have to understand the film – to really get into the film – and if you don’t, then you’re open for these kinds of results where you’re just writing for empty spaces, and that’s not the way to do it. I had a discussion with Joel. I said, ‘You know, if we had the optimum choice of what to do, I would write a main theme for the score of a movie, but I would have it playing on the set so the actors and actresses could hear it, and get a better feel for what’s going on musically. I think a better cohesion would be attained that way. Luckily I got on the soundstage a couple of times to see some of the scenes being photographed. You need this kind of communication; otherwise, it tends to be a piecemeal effort.
MRH : The Silent Partner is an unusual film, partly because it was one of the more successful Canadian films made during the tax shelter years of the seventies, and there is also wide appreciation for it. It was on TV a couple of weeks ago.
OS : Yes, I noticed it was on again, and it keeps showing at various theatres. [Joel Michaels] said it became a kind of cult movie for some reason. I don’t know why.
MRH : Were you instrumental at all in getting the music released on album by Pablo records about the same time?
OS : Benny Carter and Norman Granz heard some of the themes that I’d written, and they wanted to do an album on it, along with the fact that the movie was coming out. So we pulled some of the themes and did an album.
MRH : A number of people wanted me to ask you if there’s a chance it’s going to appear on CD, because it’s one of those scores that got quietly released, and then disappeared, with fans belatedly scrambling to find a copy.
OS : Well, it may just come out on CD. I’m not sure. The company that was Pablo is now Fantasy as you may know. Fantasy bought Pablo Records a few years ago, and they’re just now going over the library, deciding what to re-issue. [Ed.: Fantasy also owns the Contemporary, Debut, Milestone, Prestige, and Riverside imprints]
MRH : Were there any rights problems in releasing the album?
OS : No. We had full co-operation there also. But it’s really a shame in way. I’m really sorry that I didn’t have the time to be there to score the film. I’m not degrading what Kenny Wannberg did, but you would like to do your own thing if you’re brought in to do it.
MRH : I wonder if I could just throw some names at you, and get some brief comments on them, or any scores that stand out.
OS : Well I’m not a movie buff. I used to be but I don’t remember some of the titles to be very honest with you. But I know the people that I admire in the movies. John Williams; I think he dominated a certain period of the film scoring era. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Alex North; what a writer. I saw Witness quite some time ago, which I’m sure you must have seen. I think [Maurice Jarre] did a marvelous job.
MRH : It’s actually one of his better electronic scores.
OS : Oh, I really did think it was one of his best scores. I really loved what he did in that movie. But they don’t often come off like that, unfortunately. Quincy told me that the original fight withThe Color Purple was that they wanted music like Mozart behind it. And he had a huge fight over it, saying ‘You’re out of your mind – You can’t have Mozart behind a black history piece like this.’ And that’s what you run into: somebody gets an idea, and once you commit to a film, you’re in.
MRH : How about Lennie Niehaus?
OS : Lennie is a good writer. I haven’t heard anything recent, but I like his writing. I remember I used to buy his records! Another one is Lalo Schifrin, who’s done a lot of excellent scores… I’ve also seen a lot of stuff by Gil Mellé , some of which I like, and some of which I find monotonous, to be very truthful with you.
MRH : Of late, he specializes mostly in electronics.
OS : Well he does now, but there was always that tenor sax thing in there, and it became a little wearisome. But he is a good writer. Of course, then there’s [Johnny] Mandel.
MRH : He’s a classic example of someone who’s composed some marvelous music that you’re never going to see again, because they were on various labels like Mercury, and in the case of Mercury they haven’t gone back to the vaults. I mean, if there’s an obvious profit, then that should be their biggest motivating factor. After the release of the Bird soundtrack, another label released a collection with the original, unadulterated pieces. The album also featured a very close variation of the Bird artwork. In addition, anyone owning a Charlie Parker recording in the public domain flooded the marketplace with releases. It’s just unfortunately that it takes a film to unearth long neglected works of musical artistry, while the contributions of others remain buried in studio vaults.
[Note: As of 2005, a handful of Mandel’s scores have appeared on CD, including Ryko’s I Want to Live! which couples the jazz combos with Mandel’s underscore; The Sandpiper on Mercury, Point Blank on FSM, and M*A*S*H, perpetually in print, because apparently ‘suicide has been painless’ since 1970.]
Have you ever seen a film called Virus ? It’s a big-budget Japanese film that was actually composed by Teo Macero [Miles Davis’ main record producer, during his long association with Gil Evans, during the sixties], which I thought was an unusual choice.
OS : Oh-oh. There’s one!
MRH : But again, as with the aforementioned problems in acquiring soundtracks, there was a Japanese album with an orchestral suite from the film which is difficult to find now. The easiest remains a second album that features dated synth-jazz fusion cues, and one orchestral theme.
OS : I tell you right now, one of the things that’s turned me off – and I have to be truthful with you – has been this type of television writing with the screaming guitar lead-in. This has turned me off so badly to a lot of movies and made for television-type movies. It’s so monotonous – everyone resorts to it – with that wild guitar leading up on top of everything else.
MRH : It goes through a couple of phases. A few years ago it was the Japanese shakuhachi flute; then it was all-synth scores with early, sonically primitive equipment.
OS : Well, you know there was a lot of conflict in the studios themselves, because they were busy fighting that battle of “we don’t want synthesizers, I’m not going to play synthesizers,” and this sort of thing. In fact, in London I was told they had a couple of fist fights because of it in the studio. That has passed though, since the instruments have improved much. They’ve now gained a sort of respectful niche in the musical world which they should have had anyway. It’s not really the instrument; it’s the man or woman playing it. There seems to be a much happier amalgamation of the two mediums, and there’s so much that can be done. I would like to try a score one day if it was the right thing, because it can be done now, since they’ve reached that kind of elevation. You still need the warmth and the presence of the other instruments, but it can be worked happily.
MRH : In the 1950’s there were a lot of Jazzmen that went to Paris and composed there –
OS : Yes –
MRH : There must be a large amount of jazz scores still unreleased in France . In Italy a few scores appeared featuring Chet Baker, and France ‘s Fontana records have made a few attempts, such as Miles Davis’ score, Elevator to the Gallows ; Art Blakey’s scores forDangerous Liaisons , Des femmes disparaissent, and Les tricheurs [on which Peterson appears himself] , and Barney Wilen’s Un temoin dans las ville, Jazz sur seine .
OS : A lot depends on the film producer or the director. If you get the wrong person, then problems could arise]. For instance, there are so many movies that could have withstood a heavier jazz score, or would have made the film work a lot better. But what you get is the overlords that come in and say, ‘No, no, no, we can’t have that.’ I turned down a movie recently for that reason. I sensed interference right away, and before it got to that [level] I just said ‘No, I’m not available.’ Why bring that kind of confrontation on yourself? After all the meetings, one of the parties who had asked me to write turned around and said, ‘You know, I never did like jazz. I was raised in the classical element.’ Now I don’t know what the hell that was supposed to mean, but that was the period at the end of the sentence for me. Obviously that leaves me out. But then, this is the party that came roaring back begging me to do the film, and I just didn’t even bother.
This is what you’re fighting all the time. And when you get that kind of attitude going in front, you haven’t got a chance with the film afterwards. They’ll just chop your score to pieces, and you’ll never recognize it.
MRH : What did you think of Clint Eastwood’s Bird , and the electronic magic that was used to isolate Charlie Parker’s solos?
[Parker’s sax solos were separated from the other instruments, and new performers were used to re-record the suppressed passages to create a new stereo master.]
OS : I think it could have been used a little better. It tended to have a canned quality to me. They did some excellent “refurbishing” if you want to call it, but I think that kind of thing needs the total live thing – written and performed for that particular score. There are people that – well, although Sonny Stitt is no longer here – there are a lot of other people who can play just like Bird. They admired him that much, and were in that bag.
I wasn’t crazy about the movie to be truthful with you. I wonder if they’re ever going to have a movie about a jazz musician – whoever it may have been or will be – that doesn’t end tragically. There’s been a lot of people like Basie and Ellington, whose musical lives have been exemplary in this way. [Producers] always bypass them, looking for all the people who have died of something.
MRH : Spike Lee’s ‘ Mo Better Blues contained a depressing end, and had a few really obnoxious stereotypes in spite of having great music, and style.
OS : I haven’t seen the film, but they all seem to go that way. We’re not necessarily looking for a success story, but what’s wrong with an Ellington story, or a Basie story, or a Gillespie story? [Jazz movies] all have the Billy Holiday syndrome – they all have to end in tragedy.
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It’s ironic that since Peterson made those statements, eleven years have yielded some outstanding documentaries – both feature-length and serialized sagas on TV – but no dramatic biographies on either Gillespie, Basie, or Ellington. Not that there’s been another doom & gloom saga, but the lengthy careers of these milestones are perhaps so engrossing and epic, that the time allotted within a two or three hour movie can only benefit the short lives of bright stars who burned bright, and went poof! before they hit forty. Besides, an ephemeral existence leaves extra room for the music numbers.
As of this writing, Ken Wannberg’s score of arranged and orchestrated themes by Oscar Peterson has yet to receive a commercial or promotional release.
Wannberg’s own work as a composer has been issued on a series of CDs. Among the best areThe Philadelphia Experiment (previously issued on vinyl by Rhino, and reissued by Prometheus), The Mother Lode and Of Unknown Origin (both also from Prometheus). Wannberg also functioned as conductor/arranger on Joel Michaels’ other little cult thriller, The Changeling (released on CD by Percepto), with Howard Blake contributing the film’s music box theme, and the aforementioned Rick Wilkins writing the film score (and like Peterson, this was his solo feature film venture). Wannberg later became John Williams’ key music editor, and now rarely composes for films as a solo artist. Peterson and Wilkins, however, eventually collaboratedon the 1978 NFB documentary, Fields of Endless Day, with Peterson as composer.
The Silent Partner can still be found on LP (Pablo Today #2312-103) and it’s a fairly light collection of themes performed by an incredible group of musicians – Piano: Oscar Peterson, Alto sax: Benny Carter, Trumpet: Clark Terry, Tenor sax: Zoot Sims, Vibes: Milt Jackson, Bass: John Heard, Drums: Grady Tate. Note, however, that Pablo’s early cassette tapes should be avoided at all costs, as many were recorded very low, with some sides often yielding muddy, unintelligible audio.
This interview originally appeared in Music from the Movies, Issue 6, Fall 1994, and was tweaked & revised, with new intro & conclusion, in the Fall of 2005. Entire contents of both versions copyrighted by Mark R. Hasan. All rights reserved.
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Related external links (MAIN SITE):
DVD/Film: Oscar Peterson Trio: The Berlin Concert, The (1985)
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