At any given moment, he might be scoring a film; preparing and then performing another of his classic horror movie evenings; composing catchy themes to back TV advertisements for clients such as Rolex, Bombay Sapphire gin, or automobile manufacturers Hyundai and Škoda; or preparing arrangements for Warren Ringham’s Q the Music band, justifiably billed as “the world’s leading concert tribute to the music of James Bond.”
And, toward the end of each year, Jason assembles a fresh set of Vince Guaraldi Peanuts melodies for his trio’s annual Charlie Brown Christmas-themed show at the UK’s Colchester Arts Centre.
This post, however, is prompted by another of his passions: crime and spy jazz, which led to The Jason Frederick Cinematic Sound’s 2015 release of Mods & Coppers, a 15-track tribute to the jazzy film and TV themes that mesmerized his childhood self.
“It all started when we got cable television,” Jason recalled, during a lengthy recent chat. “It was 1983, and I was 12. We had only three channels, and one was in French. We got some upstate New York stations, and they’d play movies and TV shows all night. I watched Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Twilight Zone, strange Japanese films, Hammer horror films and Italian spy stuff. I started taping what I watched, and I was infatuated with the soundtracks. It was a big deal when James Bond movies appeared, and my copy of Thunderball was taped off the French broadcast; it was called Opération Tonnerre. All of my cassettes were of stuff from the late 1950s to the early ’70s, and I thought it was all great.
“We lived in Sudbury, Ontario, and I had to take a bus to get to Toronto, which took 4-1/2 hours, because that’s where all the record stores were. It blew my mind, the first few times, because their soundtrack sections were as large as the entire record stores in our town!”
Today, Jason plays various keyboards, transistor organs and old electronic organs, as well as guitar, bass and drums. (“Whatever seems to be the right instrumental solution to what I’m doing at a given moment, I follow it.”)
His first instrument, however, was ... an accordion.
“My Dad is of Ukrainian/Romanian heritage, so at age 5 I got the accordion that my Granddad gave to him in 1954. I wanted to play hockey, and he said, well, we have enough money to give you accordion lessons, or buy you hockey equipment ... and we already have an accordion. So get stuck in!”
Jason later learned to play guitar because he played the accordion.
In 1987, Jason became a founding member of the Canadian alt-rock band The Walk, alongside vocalist/guitarist Dave Allan, bass guitarist Eric Forget, and drummer James Prudhomme. They released three albums during the next decade, but commercial success eluded the group; they disbanded in 1996.
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| From left, Eric Forget, Dave Allan, James Prudhomme, Jason Frederick |
“A friend took one of our band songs, and put it in an advert; that was the first time I heard my music with an image next to it. The technology involved in doing that, was a lot harder to come by, than it is now.
“I started writing things to imaginary films in my head. I also mentally scored music to something I watched, when I thought the existing score didn’t quite work. 1983’s Never Say Never Again had a very interesting, eclectic score that didn’t reflect what people expected from James Bond films up to that time. The synergy just didn’t work. Michel Legrand came up with so much material — a tango, 1950s jazz, 1980s counter-funk — and they all fight each other. No consistent vibe. As the years passed, I completely re-scored that film three or four times, in my head and on paper.”
And when did you move from the theoretical, to the actual?
“Having decided that I wanted to do soundtracks, I moved to Los Angeles in 1998, to study at USC ... as you do, when you’re young and impetuous, and you think, How can it not work?
“I was lucky enough to have a mentor, a composer named Richard Gibbs. I was his assistant. He scored 2000’s 28 Days, with Sandra Bullock and Viggo Mortensen. Periodically, throughout the film, the characters watch a television soap opera. Richard graciously suggested that I score that. He explained it was a 1980s-style soap, so it needed to sound appropriately over-emotional and florid. And he was there; he said, ‘Don’t be afraid to jump in; I’ll save you if it doesn’t work.’ So I dove in, and it was just as insensitive and overly emotional as it needed to be.
“That was the first time I was able to sit in a cinema, and watch it back.”
“Everybody connected with that show loved the same things: The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Our Man Flint, and that sound. I was allowed to create music that referenced that genre.”
Jason ultimately received “additional music” credits on seven episodes.
He remained in California until 2010, and then moved with his British-born wife Angie to Suffolk, in England’s northeastern Essex. The nature of the business had changed. Whereas scoring meetings with television executive producers and film directors once had taken place in person, composers now simply shared their music files via the Internet.
Flash-forward to late 2014.
“I had been assigned something that was supposed to sound like 1960s spy jazz action. It fizzled out, but my insides still were connected to the concept. I remembered what I had done on The Replacements, so I decided to pay tribute to those things that had been meaningful to me, for so long. I plugged in my organ one day, and just played as much as I could, of what I remembered. Doing this made me think of that, and so forth.
“I then went to the Colchester Arts Centre, a cool venue just down the road from me, and I pitched the idea of doing this during a live evening concert. My plan — a friend calls it ‘edu-tainment’ — was to play classic music from the golden era of jazz-influenced action, in front of a screen showing graphics of artwork from the time, and facts about the films. They thought it was a great idea. They pulled out a calendar, said how about 5-1/2 months from now, and I said sure, book us in.
“I had no idea how this could be done. I had no band, no anything, except the knowledge that this would happen in 5-1/2 months. I had to hire musicians, even though I hadn’t yet written the music they’d play. I’m accustomed to a chasing deadline, where you simply must have faith that the right material will arrive in time ... because it has to!
“And, along the way, I learned the wonders of the film editing software Adobe Premiere.”
“I suddenly thought how great it would be, to have an album to sell at the show, which essentially became the album release party.
“I also had to figure out backing tracks: things I played on the album, which were more than I could play live. I figured out how to get the backing track in mono: one side was the track, and the other side was a click. I then laid that across the digital film track, and made the film to go with the clicks. So, half of it went out to the audience, via the board, but the click only went to the drummer. That way, the band stayed in time to what was happening on the screen. The whole thing was built simultaneously; everything flowed out of the necessity of it needing to flow.”
In a couple of magazine interviews leading up to the show’s debut, Jason shared his Top 5 favorite film and TV soundtracks: 1971’s Dirty Harry (Lalo Schifrin), 1963’s Charade (Henry Mancini), 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (John Barry), 1971’s Get Carter (Roy Budd) and the 1977-82 TV series The Incredible Hulk (Joe Harnell). (Excellent choices, says I.)
The debut Colchester Arts Centre show took place on June 20, 2015, and it pretty much reflected the album. Jason knew that he had the right crowd, when he spotted a fellow wearing a T-shirt from the gritty 1970s cop show The Sweeney. Even so, Jason felt the stress.
“I had to talk to people, from my little position at the front, with the keyboard and guitar set-up; I also triggered all the video clips behind me, while checking a little VLC window, to make sure the right things played. There was always a chance that I’d do something in the wrong order, but it didn’t happen.”
That performance was a hit, so the band delivered several additional shows during the next few years.
“As we played more times, the set got longer and longer, and things got more ambitious musically. Recognizing the instrumental forces surrounding me, I wanted to use everything I knew we could get from them.
“But we couldn’t keep it up. I got busy again, and it was a hard group to maintain, because they also were busy. I didn’t want to do an ongoing ‘band thing’ by using substitutes.
“So, ultimately, those concerts were a special thing. Tears in the rain.”
He also has composed fresh scores for the 1920 silent version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and 1931’s Frankenstein and Dracula.
“Those two are scoreless: The canvas is there, so whatever I put on it won’t be compared to an original score. I follow the Mods and Coppers template: I score the entire film, then remove the bits that I can play live, and lay the rest of the soundtrack onto the film, and then I show up and play over myself.”
That aside, Jason admits that he has more than enough material for a Mods and Coppers sequel album ... which could see the light of day if he is able to reassemble his Cinematic Sound band.
We live in hope...
Mods and Coppers can be ordered at the band’s website, and also is available via iTunes, amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. Aside from the solidly dynamic musicianship, each of the 15 tracks — several of them medleys of two iconic themes — boasts Jason’s ingeniously fresh and inventive arrangements. (“A good cover should reflect who you are,” he explains, “while still connecting to the original, but not slavishly reproducing it.”)
I particularly adore the band’s energetic handling of “The Self-Preservation Society,” from 1969’s The Italian Job; you practically can hear the song’s lyrics in Jason’s keyboard riffs.
Be sure to also check out Jason’s website and the Jason Frederick’s Score-y Time YouTube channel. Both are laden with many, many excellent examples of his work.
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