For someone who grew up listening and whistling to the spaghetti western theme tunes of Ennio Morricone, via my eldest brother's vinyl LP record of 'Classic Western theme tunes', this was an opportunity not to be missed!
When I was first sent youtube links by Jesse, I listened to some unfamiliar Morricone material, which was just great. I recall one in particular, The Return of Ringo. When I first heard it I immediately thought of the voice of a friend, Davide, whose singing I head just heard the once. After listening to the tune I called him up to see if I could get him interested in becoming involved as a singer on the project. It was very gratifying to hear him singing that song at rehearsals and to see him on stage. He seemed perfect for the role and seemed somehow to grow in stature on stage.
I recorded other clips from the rehearsals mainly for those who could not read music (this turned out to be only one person... myself!) but they were a fun way of trying out my new professional recording equipment and learning how to use it too. There was a real sense of community in the singing rehearsals and they also revealed that Jesse Vernon could hit some unexpectedly high notes an octave apart; he must have been a choirboy once?
What was slightly unexpected was how much I began to re-appreciate the music of Morricone and re-appraise the music that was already so well known to me from his spaghetti western film scores in the late 1960's.
The scenes from Clint Eastwood's classic sixties movies such as The Good the Bad and the Ugly, and For a Fistful of Dollars were so taught and atmospheric mainly because of the music scores and genius of Morricone. The Cinematography of these movies generally had two types of camera shot, that of the close-ups clearly showing emotive facial expressions, sometimes completely without dialogue and then the vast panoramas of the landscape of Spain where most of the 'western' movies were made mostly by a european film crew.
It was a compelling combination for a young fan of the genre as was Clint Eastwood's designer stubble, economy of lines, drain pipe jeans, green and white poncho, cambray blue cotton shirt and sheepskin lined gilet. In fact in the 1970's when I grew up I bucked the trend for flares and only wore drainpipe jeans, Lee's or Levis only.
So, on Friday 26th November The Cube Cinema was the place to be for those who enjoy Morricone's music and the special atmosphere the venue effortlessly seems to create. The Cube really came alive to the sounds of Morricone and I offered to record and capture as much as was humanly possible in order share everything I saw and heard with you dear reader.
It was a truly entertaining night, which you can clearly hear in the appreciative applause and whistling of the audience.
Many thanks to everyone who took part, to Jesse Vernon for bringing everyone together and to Rasha Saheen for her tireless work on the mixing desk.
I have had to disperse the capture of this event but the images are here and the un-edited MP3 recordings are here
What's the next Greatness of The Magnificence I wonder? I can't wait for Tom Petty night myself... I'd love to play drums on his songs!
©2010 richard louis arnott
