A film in which jazz plays as a "scenery"
In Between the White and Black Keys, there's a scene where pianist Minami, played by Ikematsu Sosuke, and saxophone player Kisuke, played by Matsumaru Kei, have a jam session on the street. I wrote this scene by expanding my imagination while walking around Ginza, the setting of the film, and I'm fascinated by these kinds of "jazz scenes as scenery," which barely reach the eyes or ears of the characters but leave a strong impression on the film's audience.
For example, in "The Conversation...Eavesdropping...", the protagonist, a professional eavesdropper, enjoys playing the saxophone as a hobby and often practices at home. However, he tries to force his own sounds onto jazz records that would work without the saxophone, which is quite distracting. Regardless, what's interesting is that in the scenes where he's walking around town, street jazz musicians can be seen in the background. It's implied that he can't listen to them because he's eavesdropping, but this nameless musician is somehow memorable.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola / Harry, a communications eavesdropper, finds himself in a difficult position when he receives a request to eavesdrop on a couple's conversation. The final scene, in which Harry, having lost everything, plays the saxophone in solitude, is memorable. The music was composed by David Shire, the director's brother-in-law.
A similar scene is even more powerful in sound in "Inland Empire." When the main character enters a bar-like place, a piano-less trio is playing alongside dancers, and the sound of the saxophone, as well as the quality of the sound, which sounds like it was recorded with a gun microphone, are both dirty and amazing.
With the soundtrack overlapping, it's clear that David Lynch had no intention of letting us hear their music in this scene, but even so, at the end, the women start dancing to a live recording of Nina Simone's "Sinnerman," transforming the film into an incredible jazz movie. Looking back, I feel like the group jam scene in Between the White and Black Keys was aiming for this ending.
One film that really made an impression on me, featuring a famous jazz musician, was Michelangelo Antonioni's "Night." Pianist Giorgio Gaslini, who also composed the soundtrack for the film itself, plays with the band in a scene at a garden party at a millionaire's house. The partygoers are chatting, so you could say this is part of the scenery, but I thought it was clever how jazz was used symbolically as music that urban intellectuals would like.
But that doesn't mean Antonioni liked jazz. Five years later, he used Herbie Hancock for the soundtrack to "Blowout," but it felt like he was just playing the jazz rock that was popular at the time. Including the Yardbirds performance scene in the film, Antonioni was probably just incorporating whatever music was hot at the time into his compositions. Perhaps it's this subtle distance from jazz that makes him so interesting.
Speaking of Japanese films, there's a scene I love in Akira Kurosawa's High and Low. When Tsutomu Yamazaki, who is being followed by Tatsuya Nakadai and his friends, enters a mysterious restaurant that seems like both a diner and a club, a big band plays Latin-style jazz. I'm not sure if it's background music or if it's just someone playing in the restaurant, but the sound is really dirty.
Director: Akira Kurosawa / Gondo, who works at a shoe company, receives a phone call saying, "My son has been kidnapped." The criminals, who are after a ransom, mistakenly kidnap not Gondo but his driver's son... The film is based on the novel "King's Ransom" by Ed McBain.
The music was composed by Sato Masaru, but in Japanese films of the 1960s, such as "High and Low," there was a common pattern of having contemporary musicians compose jazz music. It was probably a demand for it as a hot topic of the time, but it's interesting how it all feels like "wrong jazz." I'll digress a little from the topic of "scenery," but the opening of "Crazy Fruit," which is co-credited by Sato Masaru and Takemitsu Toru, is incredible.
Director: Nakahira Ko / One of the "Taiyo-zoku" films of postwar Japan, which deals with young people rebelling against adult morals. It depicts a fierce battle between two young brothers over a beautiful married woman. Based on the novel of the same name by Shintaro Ishihara, it was essentially the debut film for his younger brother, Yujiro.
There's a big band in the background, but it sounds like a drunk guy playing the saxophone in the foreground. It has a false quality, like "That's how it is, right?", and it probably wouldn't be interesting to hear live. But conversely, if jazz, which is enjoyable live, were used as is in a film, it wouldn't fit. Because it stands on its own. In that sense, I think that films like "High and Low" and "Fruit of Madness" have built an ideal relationship in which film and music provoke each other.
The great thing about jazz is that even if you can't see the faces of the players and can hear them in a crowded place, you can still tell it's jazz. So, when used well, like in these films, I think it can leave a sense of incongruity and impact on the audience, even if it's just "scenery."
A quick overview of 100 years of jazz and film
1927
"The Jazz Singer" is released and attracts attention as the world's first feature-length sound film.
1930
Louis Armstrong made his first film appearance as himself in "X-Frame." He continued to appear in numerous films until his later years, including "The Glenn Miller Story" (1954) and "High Society" (1956). He also co-starred with Billie Holiday in "New Orleans" (1947).
1954
The biographical film about Glenn Miller, "The Glenn Miller Story," is released. Miller was also active as an actor, appearing in films such as "Five Pennies" (1959), which depicts the life of cornetist Red Nichols during the heyday of swing jazz.
1957
The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) released "The Grand Canal," which was later released by the MJQ as "Venice at Twilight."
1958
"Elevator to the Gallows," with improvised music by Miles Davis, is released.
1959
Dangerous Liaisons features music by Thelonious Monk and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.
1961
Duke Ellington composed the music for "Parisian Voyage." In the same year, Michel Legrand composed the music for Jean-Luc Godard's "A Woman Is a Woman." Legrand subsequently collaborated with many New Wave directors, including Jacques Demy.
1962
Krzysztof Komeda, a leading figure in the Polish jazz scene, composed the music for Knife in the Water. Jerzy Skolimowski, who wrote the screenplay for the film and would later make his directorial debut, was originally a jazz drummer.
1966
"Alfie," with music by Sonny Rollins, is released.
1970
The Hino Terumasa Quintet was in charge of the music for "Attack in Broad Daylight." Director Nishimura Kiyoshi, known as a fan of modern jazz, had also used Sato Masahiko in "The Leopard Ran" (1972) and Kikuchi Masaaki in "Hairpin Circus" (1972).
1974
The unique jazz musician Sun Ra has released "Space Is the Place," a film he directed, wrote, and composed the music for.
1986
Yosuke Yamashita is in charge of the music for "Jazz Daimyo," based on the novel of the same name by Yasutaka Tsutsui. Yamashita also composed the music for "Weekend Shuffle" (1982), also based on a Tsutsui novel. Tsutsui also participated in the music on clarinet.
1987
Herbie Hancock, who composed the music for "Round Midnight" (1986), won the Academy Award for Best Original Score. Hancock has also composed music for many other films, including "The Great Passage" (1974).
1988
The Charlie Parker biopic Bird is released. It is directed by Clint Eastwood, who also works as a jazz pianist. In the same year, Eastwood served as executive producer on the Thelonious Monk documentary Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser.
1989
The Chet Baker documentary "Let's Get Lost," directed by photographer Bruce Weber, has been released. Baker also has a biopic, "Born to Be Blue" (2015).
1990
Spike Lee directed Mo' Better Blues, a film about a fictional jazz musician, with music by Bill Lee and Branford Marsalis.
1991
The Bix Beiderbecke biopic "Jazz Me Blues" has been released. The music is supervised by Bob Wilber, who also supervised the music for the suspense film "The Cotton Club" (1984) about jazz musicians.
Ornette Coleman participated in the soundtrack for Naked Lunch, based on the novel of the same name by William Burroughs.
2005
Naruyoshi Kikuchi composed the film music for the first time for "On the Night of the Great Blackout."
2014
The film Whiplash, about a jazz drummer, was released in theaters. Director Damien Chazelle, who aspired to be a jazz drummer himself, has since directed other jazz-themed films, including La La Land (2016) and Babylon (2022).
2016
The John Coltrane documentary "Chasing Trane" is released.
2019
Wynton Marsalis, artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, contributed to the music of "Motherless Brooklyn."
2020
The Pixar animated film "Soul," for which Jon Batiste served as music director, was released. In the same year, Kamasi Washington, a representative of the new generation of jazz players like Batiste, worked on the music for "Being Human," a documentary about Michelle Obama, and Robert Glasper worked on the music for "Photograph."
