A few years back I scored Hangman’s House, a 1928 silent movie directed by John Ford, for 20th Century Fox, and starring Oscar-winner Victor McLaglen. The scene I’ve posted here consists primarily of our drunken antagonist shooting the beloved, winning horse. I remember thinking that even though the scene was chaotic and violent (and could easily have been played that way, musically), to me it was dark and sad. So that’s how I scored it (though the mood changes later). Oh, and keep an eye out for a young John Wayne, who makes one of his very first film appearances. He’s the goofy guy who breaks down the fence toward the beginning.

There’s another scene from Hangman’s House in the Work section of the site.

You know what I like? Jazz, that’s what. That picture, to the left there? That’s my friend and fellow composer Jason Brandt on the piano, and my sax in the foreground. In this photo, Jason and I are doing what cool cats call “jamming” – in an effort to create music that might at least approximate jazz. We get close every once in a while. Thing is though, I find it really difficult to stay in playing condition. And instead of practicing my horn, I’m usually writing music – or berating myself for not practicing my horn; that’s a skill I’ve spent over 20 years perfecting. Ask me how!

So I have this idea to form a jazz band (quintet/sextet/octet/some sort of tet?) of composers like me who just want to start playing again on a semi-consistent basis. For fun. For groupies. And to stem the tide of self-loathing that comes from not practicing enough. If you’re interested, let me know.

In the meantime, here are a few musicians we should all spend the rest of the day and night listening to: Phil Woods, Bob Berg, Lionel Hampton, Stan Getz, Tom Harrell, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Dennis Chambers, Thelonius Monk, Paul Desmond, Dave Brubeck, Oliver Nelson, Joe Pass.

You love the ’80s! You know you do. And as a reward for that devotion, I present Episode 14 of Breakfast: The Musical! I hope this makes you feel like a teenage girl, circa 1984. That came out sounding weirder than I intended. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it.

If you missed the details about this project, you can check them out here.

Due to the fact that this series has been such a magnificent success on the blog, (in that nobody has asked me to stop it), I’m going to post more of the songs from Breakfast: The Musical! In Episode 8, we went for a show-stopper, Broadway-style ballad, sung by the daughter in the family. I think it’s fair to say that most of us don’t care as much about our entire lives as she does about her bowl of cereal.

If you missed the details about this project, you can check them out here.

Back by popular demand (and by that I mean that someone asked to see another one), it’s Breakfast: The Musical! Last week, an ’80s rock ballad; this week; we’re goin’ power-pop-punk, with a little song-and-dance number called “Get Out the Door.” I hope you like it, and that in the spirit of the style, you’ll become angry and rebellious toward The Man. And your breakfast.

If you missed the details about this project, you can check them out here.