BFI | Sight & Sound | The Best Music in Film

The Best Music in Film

(Composed the music for Siesta (1987) with Miles Davis, Above the Rim and House Party)

S&S: What is your favourite film soundtrack music and why do you like it so much?: "My favourite soundtracks are the ones that actually serve as a character in the films. Films where the music is like an additional actor. John Williams Star Wars (1977) does this. So does Isaac Hayes' Shaft (1971) score. Quincy Jones' In The Heat of the Night (1967) is fantastic also."
S&S: In what ways does music best enhance a film?: "When the music guides your emotions through a film in the way the film maker intends, then it's a successful score. When the music gives you a character's thoughts - in a way that words couldn't do, then the score is successful. Film is interesting in that characters who you might deplore in real life can become interesting to you. It all depends on the presentation. If you are exposed to enough interesting information about someone, you can't help be interested in what happens to them. Music helps this. I think I've changed people's opinions about a character in a film based on the music I wrote for that character."
S&S: Which film either has music that you wished you'd written or is one you would like to rescore and why?: "I would like to score one of the superhero films...Batman (1989), Daredevil (2003), or X-Men (2000) or something like that and give it a very urban score instead of an overly orchestral one. I think it would be interesting to feel the city that these characters are operating in when you hear the music!"