Jazz in Hollywood (1950s – 1970s)

Abstract

Serious jazz can be found in places where it is least expected, in mainstream Hollywood films. This thesis aims to demonstrate how film composers (such as Henry Mancini, Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin) challenged established conventions in the music and film industries between the late 1950s and the late 1970s. During this period, film composers were producing jazz for a global audience; their musical contribution is integral to our current understanding of jazz history. It is by viewing the history of film music through the various ways in which it is received (in music journals, performances, publications, recordings, films) that a new perspective on jazz history will be achieved. Giving focus to individual film scores, using detailed analysis and transcription, this thesis will highlight key moments in history that reveal how important film composers are to the story of jazz. With the study of journalistic and academic publications, it will also show how wider changes in American society were represented by jazz composers in film scores. Considering the history of jazz through the reception of Hollywood film scores enables new ways to define the genre. For instance, by taking into account the future performance life of a composition, this thesis will provide a new perspective on the fundamental characteristics of a jazz composition. These new ways to consider the genre demonstrate why film music should be included within the jazz-historical canon.

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