Search - Various Artists - Soundtrack :: Finding Forrester (2000 Film)

Topnotch Miles Davis music complements Gus Van Sant's latest film about an urban youth (Rob Brown), torn between basketball and writing, who meets a reclusive novelist (Sean Connery). The unlikely tale is supported by a generous sampling of Davis's early 1970s work nodding to Ornette Coleman and guitarist Bill Frisell. With the help of Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Tony Williams, Davis molded his second "classic" quintet into a groundbreaking mix of funk and rock that created something far beyond the reaches of fusion. Both "Recollections" and "Lonely Fire" hail from Davis's landmark Bitches Brew sessions (finally seeing release as The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions in October 1998) and offer a calming, nearly ambient effect. This combined with Davis's polyrhythmic funk--"Black Satin" from On the Corner--and Ornette Coleman's own independent approach toward improvisation make for a solid sampler of jazz in a transitional age. --Rob O'Connor