Tales Of The Jazz Age
Mr. Richard D. Coreno | Berea, Ohio USA | 02/11/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Francis Ford Coppola's $47 million crime drama was a failure at the box office, but it did produce this outstanding soundtrack from John Barry.
Barry - a former jazz artist turned movie scorer - captures the essence of the 1920s-1930s music scene in The Cotton Club through adapting standards from legends like Duke Ellington & Cab Calloway and using original songs.
Several of the song titles also capture the overt racism of the times. It must be remembered that The Cotton Club was a venue for blacks to perform, not to enter through the front door. The nightclub was designed for white patrons and - as the best, but not only, example - with it came all the degrading trappings for the female dancers and employees.
The soundtrack works so well because the songs are period pieces whose performances - and titles - are taken directly from the era. Unlike the movie, The Cotton Club: Original Movie Soundtrack actually does a great job in telling tales from the jazz age."