Chris Black seemed to be the fellow in charge and the composer of a big chunk of the score, with additional music by Dante Rosano, Marco Rosano, and Tony Rosano. The ensemble was eleven people, including the composers. They all took turns on the piano and directing the ensemble when it was their compositions being played. All together, from left to right, there was a bass (Chris Black), trombone, cornet, baritone sax-clarinet-accordion-electric guitar (the three Rosano brothers), drum set and percussion, piano (played by the composers when they weren’t playing their own instruments), two violins, cello, two bassoons, and contrabassoon. Everyone to the right (house right) of the piano never switched instruments or places.
Three bassoons, including a contrabassoon who only played that instrument, never switching to anything else? Really? It looked really odd when I walked in, but it worked pretty well. The chameleon-like versatility of the bassoon really helped them blend into the ensemble very well. Even the low indistinct pitch rumble of the contrabassoon contributed to the overall sound. When the General (the steam locomotive that Buster Keaton engineers) first appears, the bassoons have a wonderful little chugging figure that was both effective and a little humorous all at the same time.
Interestingly, there were no electronics other than a few small amplifiers (for the bass and the electric guitar, I think) in the pit. Everything was miked and amplified but I don’t know if that was for balance purposes or just for sonic impact in the hall. I don’t think they really needed to be as aggressive as they were with the amplification, but the miking was done well and it wasn’t too obnoxious.
An ensemble this size (although not this make-up) would have been similar to the live orchestras that would have played for silent movies without significant amplification in regional places like the Fox. They didn’t really need to amplification, but I suppose they thought that people are so stupidly used to everything being so loud and in your face that they probably never even tried it without the amplification.
It would have been wonderful if the organ had been in place and they could have added that set of sounds to the mix. I’d love to do something like this with a theater organ but use more modern musical material with the old-fashioned instrument, kind of like I’d like to try playing a theater organ in a jazz context with a rhythm section and possibly even a small set of horns.
I didn’t see or hear any obvious missteps. The music was pleasant and mostly tonal, with only a few stretches of the language into more open territory. For the most part, there wasn’t much that would have been that far out in 1926, but it was all put together with a modern sensibility. Nothing was significantly out of place for the historical language with the possible exception of the electric guitar, but even that was used very tastefully.
The film was a lot of fun. It’s very hard to believe that it’s as old as it is. Of course, the period makeup and stylized form of acting belies how timeless the whole piece is, but it’s still a very enjoyable film. I’ve seen it before, but I can’t even recall what the accompaniment was then. It was probably piano.
All in all it was a very enjoyable trip to the Fox. I wonder if Chamberlab is Chris Black’s own playground exclusively, or would they welcome music from someone else? Could they be hired for other projects? I’ll have to find out. This was actually an inspiring evening. I think I’m going to go grab a pencil and the Mishkan T’filah siddur and start marking the pieces that will make up the whole service I have in mind.
I picked up their CD and a book-CD package from Chris on my way out the door. I look forward to listening to them and absorbing what they have to say.
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Location:S Sarnoff Dr, Tucson
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