Patrick Williams. One of my favorite unsung heroes - thrilled to have been able to issue Cuba and Butch and Sundance and would issue anything by him. He wrote one of my all-time favorite TV movie scores - Incident in San Francisco - he doesn't have the tapes, sadly, so that one is lost to time, I'm afraid.
He has a brand new album out and I'm listening to it now and it's superb.
His jazz album Threshold is an absolute classic - a mix of jazz, rock and classical and I urge people to buy it. I mean, it does have tablas in it, for goodness sake
He did a follow up more recently called Aurora, which isn't quite cut from the same cloth, but is still a great listen for those who love jazz and big band.
I think he has quite a unique voice in his tv and film scores. I don't remember much about the Biill Bixby show The Magician these days (and I used to watch it every week) but that catchy theme with the piccolo trumpet has stuck in my mind for many years.
Yes, great composer, and very versatile. He could be tensely dramatic, light and catchy, swooningly romantic.... I really like the light touch he brought to HOW TO BEAT THE HIGH COST OF LIVING for example, with all those soloists. And, Mr Haines, funny you should mention INCIDENT IN SAN FRANCISCO. That main theme is very similar to what David Shire later did in some parts of his score for FAREWELL MY LOVELY (there's 12 minutes of the movie up on YouTube - the credits are there, almost seven minutes in). San Francisco seemed to inspire Pat Williams. THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO has one of THE classic TV Themes of all time. Love that drumming!
I like his score for The Cheap Detective, I don't think there's a lot of music, but what there is really sets the scene. It would make a great double with Murder By Death.
And, Mr Haines, funny you should mention INCIDENT IN SAN FRANCISCO. That main theme is very similar to what David Shire later did in some parts of his score for FAREWELL MY LOVELY (there's 12 minutes of the movie up on YouTube - the credits are there, almost seven minutes in). San Francisco seemed to inspire Pat Williams. THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO has one of THE classic TV Themes of all time. Love that drumming!
