Search - Jacques Loussier :: The Mercenaries (Dark of the Sun) (1968 Film) / Guns For San Sebastian (1968 Film)

The Western genre had been given new life by the mid-1960s success of so-called "Spaghetti Westerns," an oeuvre that also helped break some decades-old musical clichés, thanks largely to the pioneering efforts of the great Ennio Morricone. Guns for San Sebastian, released in 1968, was composed during the same halcyon period as the composer's Once Upon a Time in the West. Though Guns is a bit more conventional, there are moments that recall its magnificent cousin, especially the title melody and soaring soprano of Edda Dell'Orso on "Love Theme." Jacques Loussier's score for the mercenary adventure tale Dark of the Sun is a good companion piece. Though known for his jazz work, Loussier combines those coolly shaded stylings with an inventive, seemingly Morricone-inspired use of rhythm, percussion, and murky orchestral colors to evoke a sense of danger and suspense. --Jerry McCulley