Jazz composers and musicians often have very unique careers, sometimes allying themselves with particular directors (Terence Blanchard with Spike Lee) or they frequently switch between jazz, new age jazz, orchestral jazz, all-out electronica, and straight orchestral for a huge diversity of genres, much like Mark Isham has done since his first appearance with his impressionistic synth score for The Hitcher (1986).

From the two scores paired on this album – the weirdly titled Jellysmoke (2005), and The Unknown Soldier (2004) – Peter Calandra's style is very much rooted in contemporary jazz, but his main themes for the first score are very simple, giving his ace musicians a slower pace and ample room to use their performance styles (and grace) to create very specific moods.

“Jacob's Theme” is a gorgeous lament, and the perfect theme for a painful walk down a rain-doused street, with whatever recent grief slowly enveloping one's focus until forces a gut-wrenching, raw emotional reaction. Tenor sax carries the melody with very sparse improv, and the cue's power comes from the musician's long, hard tonal strokes, with sustained piano chords, and brushes on drums simmering in the background.

“The Long Walk” is an intimate variation on solo piano, and the short cue nicely glides into the titular theme, “Jellysmoke,” with its short, tilting phrase on piano, and shimmering cymbal reverberations. The cue's second half switches to a searching motif, with a plaintive ostinato that quickly decelerates and cuts out.

Most of the score cuts hover around two minutes, and from a dramatic standpoint, they still follow a strong, introspective journey, but those hoping for a lengthy theme improv, as was done for most of the cues on Ed Was' seriously underrated mini-masterpiece, Backbeat (1994), will find there's few chances for the musicians to indulge. “On the Boulevard” is an elegant samba, but the cue's length is tied to its dramatic functionality, so while Calandra's score has fine musical performances, the score isn't designed for any lengthy improv sessions.

Jellysmoke's strongest cuts are the soulful personal statements, so while bubbly confections like “One Day in the Park” and the pop-Cajun- Calypso flavoured “Fun Times” give the score some emotional variety around the midsection, it's jarring for those wanting further explorations of the film's dark opening themes, although the eerie “Lost Images” offers a threadbare version of the titular theme on solo piano, with bowed whole notes on string bass; and “Tell Me Your Secrets” is an intimate fusion piece with tense strings, mournful piano, and drums hits, and closing statement on flute.

Unknown Soldier is a bit evocative of mid-seventies jazz fusion, but with a jazz combo delivering a more personalized rendition of percussion textures, sax solos, and reverberating keyboards. “Teen Hijinks” breaks the form, with its lofty, mischievous tone, and descending chords that recall a bit of Thelonious Monk.

Of the two scores on this double-bill album, Unknown Soldier has the most consistent mood, largely focusing on quiet moments, as in “Ellison's Choice.” Transitions towards more synth-based, string cues, like “Ellison's Choice” and the propulsive action cut “The Escape” are less jarring then the mood shifts in Jellysmoke.

Calandra's writing is very deft, and in both scores he shows a strong sensitivity for subtle emotional conflicts and the fusion of contemporary jazz, fusion, and light orchestral.

© 2008 Mark R. Hasan