Friday Forgotten Song: Touch by John Klemmer
On the eve of the L.A. Times Festival of Books (this year the event is on my wife’s university stomping grounds on U.S.C.’s campus), the subject pairing of reading and the other pleasure in my life, music, arose. The two somehow coalesced into a disconcerting realization on my part. Though audiobooks have become the primary delivery platform for my reading material these days, all due to the hectic nature of commingling marriage, work, and parenting, it registered that the audio format I so enjoy had come with a hidden cost. I could no longer blend those treasured two.
Hear me out on this. How many times have you read or heard someone start an adage with these words?:
“There are two kinds of people…”
Well, in this case, there exists some truth to that. Many enjoy the act of reading matched with nothing else — see Paul VanDeCarr’s post explaining this. Then, there are those, like blogger Sharazad (and myself), who find magic in the melding of “notes and pages” for the ear and eyes. I can’t seem to do that with just an audiobook. I guess actual books will stay in my life, come what may. Sharazad’s fine music/reading list accomplished one other thing. It sparked a memory of mine to a favorite tune used for my music and reading enjoyment (among other reasons*).
As I confessed awhile back (in a post far, far away), it was during the mid-70s when I entered my jazz fusion music period. The likes of Bob James, Sadao Watanabe, and the original members to Return to Forever grew in stature and importance to my listening habits. Besides the music they produced, I would point you to one breakthrough recording from the era that won me (and a boatload of others) over to this music genre. Saxophonist John Klemmer ’s 1975 album (and its lead song), Touch, became the soundtrack to my Seventies existence.
Arguably, John Klemmer’s career, and the genre that would eventually morph decades later into the entity that is Smooth Jazz, took off with this LP. Although, you could perhaps opine this jazz artist plateaued here, too. I believe writer and percussionist Stanton Zeff covered it best in his CD review of this seminal work, nevertheless:
“In interviews at the time, John Klemmer indicated he had taken a yearlong sabbatical of sorts to decide which musical direction he wanted to head in while writing the material for Touch. He then went into the studio to record with a stellar group of musicians, many who had not previously appeared on one of his releases to date. These included key sidemen from Tom Scott’s L.A. Express (John Guerin on drums and Chuck Domanico on bass) as well as established solo artists Dave Grusin on Fender Rhodes and David Batteau on backing vocals. It was a case of the right music, with the right musicians, at the right time.”
A John Coltrane inspired artist, the crossover appeal of his song influenced this and the next generations of musicians and listeners to a significant extent. Touch still sounds fresh, even more than 35 years later. Scott Wilson’s blog post offers another keen look to what makes this melody so hypnotic. If you’ve not heard the instrumental, it is worth catching. To prevent any potential conflict with music copyright infringement, I’ll refer you to Klemmer’s own website, Amazon or iTunes to sample the tune that was key to a distinct music category.
* I’d also contend Touch along with Marvin Gaye‘s Let’s Get It On were the preeminent ‘making out’ albums for that decade [but since my wife reads this blog, I'll leave it at that].
Free Fall Film Review
With the upcoming L.A. Times Festival of Books right around the corner, it means springtime is here in the southland. No wonder I feel so freakin’ poorly now. My allergies are making life the other side of miserable (the plentiful winter rains all but guaranteed a bumper pollen crop for us Angelenos). Los Angeles weather, while it can be wonderful, is equally unpredictable, at times. Especially as it settles into a new season. Last weekend has been cool, even misty — this week the 80s will be back. But I digress…
Once again, it’s time for the blogger otherwise known as the Scientist Gone Wordy and I to add another of our duo posts in the series we started last year. This time, we took advantage of the book fest timing and a novel/film pairing many of us ‘Craisies’ hold in cringing affection. As usual, the wordy one will look at the text of a famed novel later adapted to film, which I will review. In this case, she’ll be looking at the 1993 source crime novel and Edgar Award nominee from famed author Robert Crais for the 1997 film adaptation, Free Fall. Rachel’s book review can be found here:
A brief synopsis of the film: Elvis Cole is back! While the L.A. private detective still hasn’t unpacked his bags from his earlier New York escapade, he drops by his West Hollywood workplace to pick up the load of old mail that’s piled up. There, a tentative young woman appears at his office door looking for a savior. Jennifer Sheridan wants Elvis to investigate what’s troubling her fiancé, a plainclothes LAPD officer working for an elite gang unit. She’s convinced something is wrong and that he’s in danger, and won’t accept the circumstantial evidence that her high school sweetheart is having a dalliance with another woman. What Elvis, and his laconic partner Joe Pike, find in this probe will put them up against corrupt cops, a lethal street gang, and murder charges.
[spoiler warning: some key elements of the film could be revealed in this review] Read more 
Friday Song (& Dance Sequence): Chaiyya Chaiyya
Back in 2006, noted director Spike Lee brought forward a really fine cast in one of the better heist flicks of recent years, Inside Man. I’m not here to review that very entertaining film, however. Nope, I’m posting this to highlight the song the filmmakers chose to accompany their first-rate title sequence in the film† (you can view the initial movie sequence here) — Lee even included a re-mixed version of the same song for the closing credits. If you’ve seen the film, then you heard the abridged version of an Indian song that became very popular in that southern Asian country (and the U.K.) back in 1998. The tune, in fact, blossomed from yet another earlier film and soundtrack. I’m sure, like others who’ve seen it, the enticing melody, vocals, and rhythms of the track, Chaiyya Chaiyya (composed by A.R. Rahman, written by Gulzar, and sung by Sukhwinder Singh and Sapna Awasthi), drew me to the music. Even though I understand none of the language, its singing is simply splendid.
It should be said, though, I am far from an authority on film or song. I just comment on the things that I’ve seen or heard over the years which peak my interest. But, I am an absolute neophyte when it comes to Indian cinema (generically, and sometimes dismissively, termed as Bollywood). To learn anything about it, I rely upon those who know what they’re talking about. In this case, I depend upon the blogger known as Filmigirl — her lesson series, Bollywood For Beginners, shouldn’t be missed if you want to start exploring the rich film content available from this region.
Not long after enjoying Inside Man, I sought out for more info about the song (and later obtained the soundtrack CD). As Wikipedia notes…
“Chaiyya Chaiyya (Hindi: छैंय्या छैंय्या, ‘[walk] in shade’) is a Hindi song in the Hindi film Dil Se directed by Mani Ratnam.”
Still, a couple of things amazed me as I explored on. First, as popular as the song was, Dil Se the film was considered a box office failure in its home market (though it was a hit overseas in the U.K.). Second, as good as the title sequence for Inside Man is with this in place, the actual song and dance sequence from Dil Se blows it away as a delivery mechanism for the track, IMO. If that’s difficult to believe, watch the clip below. It’s energetically sexy and creatively jaw-dropping. Keep in mind, the music and choreography in play (with credit to Farah Khan) was achieved in four and a half days of shooting… on a moving train… with hardly one safety harness seen on the lead actors, Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala‡. It really is a wonderful cinematic sequence. I hope you enjoy.
† CSI: Miami and the too quickly cancelled Smith television series also used the same track in single episodes; Andrew Lloyd Webber included the song for his musical Bombay Dreams, as well.
‡ am I being too obvious by saying Manisha’s hips really sing to me? I hope my wife isn’t reading this…
My Cinematic Alphabet Soup
Two bloggers I happily follow both contributed excellent movie lists to the My Cinema Alphabet meme that’s making its way across the blogosphere. This looked like a kick to do, so I’m joining in on the fun. Spellbound Cinema holds Daniel’s meme answers and you-know-who‘s is over at the Colonel Mortimer Will Have His Revenge blog site. And I wholeheartedly agree with my blogging colleague that it’ll end “... up painting a pretty fair portrait of my general taste in film.” The challenge in engaging, it seems, has to do with the last three letters in the set — a few meme participants I’ve come across offer comments or caveats toward some of their film selections at this end of alphabet. I promise I won’t since I happen to very much like those last selections of mine (just don’t get me started on what the cursed Brett Ratner did [with his hated installment] to a certain superhero film franchise, though). I’ll base my meme answers on the films I never tire of watching (though, this did cause me some tough selections… wait, does that count as a caveat?). “And here we go“: Read more
