Just to name a few off the of of my head: Miles Davis Ascenseur pour l'Échafaud, Gerry Mulligan The Subterraneans, and then there's Quincy Jones (did you know that he began life as a jazz trumpeter?) who scored numerous films.
Oliver Nelson scoring the cheesefest that was The Six Million Dollar Man got me thinking about J.J. Johnson.
His stellar album "J.J. Inc" (1960) is playing right now as the babies struggle to fall asleep for their afternoon nap. It features a young Freddie Hubbard in one of his first sessions and is highly recommended.
J.J. Johnson's career began back in the 1940s and he recorded some classic albums with a who's-who of the jazz world including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and Stan Getz just to name a few. He brought the bebop sensibility to the trombone, which is a testament to his skill. Playing a lot of notes in a hurry is not as easy on that horn as it is on a trumpet or sax. He influenced every trombone player after him and a lot of songwriters too as he wrote a number of jazz standards.
I thought of his later days which played out in a similar vein as Oliver Nelson...
J.J. Johnson got involved in that fabulous film genre known as Blaxploitation and he scored films including Willie Dynamite and Cleopatra Jones (listen here!).
Why Shelley Winters never got another Oscar nod for her role as 'Mommy' I'll never know.
If you like, you could look down on J.J. Johnson for working in this genre, but a man needs to make a living, right?
I know what I am talking about. After all, I worked on many films that weren't a fraction as entertaining as Cleopatra Jones and I cashed my paycheques with a clean conscience. Why should a jazz legend be any different?
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