African American musicians and performers have had an enormous influence on film and television music over the last seventy-five years. From the jazz scores of Elmer Bernstein and Henry Mancini to the many African based James Horner soundtracks, music created by African Americans (and non-American Africans) have and continue to be a staggering artistic force in shaping the sound of film and televison soundtracks.
In an interview featured on the DVD extras of 1941, John Williams talks about the main theme, “March from 1941", as being “jazz”. When you examine the early evolution of the maestro’s blockbuster action music from the Irwin Allen TV shows (Lost in Space, Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants) the influence of jazz and swing is east to spot.
Despite this tremendous influence in soundtrack history, black composers have been under represented among working Hollywood composers. Below are five great soundtracks by African Americans.
The Oscar nominated score to The Color Purple is majestic, epic and yet has a deep emotional intimacy about it. Quincy Jones and his team of composers created a musical tapestry that shrewdly brings out every ounce of sentiment in Spielberg’s first “serious” film.
The Reunion and Finale music that plays during the film’s moving final scene is unforgettable.
Grammy Award winning jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard was first tapped by Spike Lee to be his composer in Jungle Fever (1991). But it was in their second collaboration Malcom X where Terance Blanchard hit it out of the park creating an epic sound that captures the feel of the jazz movement, Civil Rights, Americana, and the character of Malcolm X all in one sonic masterstroke. A great underrated epic soundtrack.
The surreal (and barely seen) Siesta directed by Mary Lambert is a haunting, experimental, avante guarde gem of a film that needed a passionate, visual, hypnotic score to match it. This psychedelic, other-worldly soundtrack by Miles Davis and his collaborator Marcus Millar have created sonic bliss. The most erotic musical score ever composed.
The prolific jazz innovator, bass player, and band leader Stanley Clarke has composed a rich variety of film and television soundtracks. The IMDB credits him as the composer of 63 different projects. Yet only a handful of these gems have been released as soundtracks.
Stanley Clarke’s entertaining score to the Wesley Snipes action movie Passenger 57 is one of the very few to get a soundtrack release.
No soundtrack list of any kind can be complete without mention of the greatest blaxploitation composer of all time, legendary Isaac Hayes. The iconic score from Shaft will forever remain on of the great pop culture touchstones in soundtrack history.
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