Ernest
TROOST
Beat
Intrada
MAF 7090
[46:05]
Written and directed by Gary Walkow, this bears all the hallmarks of being
a very personal project. The events leading to the death of Joan Burroughs,
wife of writer William S. Burrough's (played in the film by Kiefer Sutherland),
aren't exactly an excuse to explore beat music of the time, but it's understood
that music was an integral part of life around them.
Troost is at pains to explain in his informative booklet notes why the score
is in 2 parts. There are 5 tracks lasting 12 minutes of the beat music in
question, collectively called "The New York Scene". It's an enjoyable suite
that makes sense to have been sequenced first. Then "The Score" is what he
calls his 'own version of a minimalist style'. Although it's a shame to suddenly
be without the rhythmic component of the beat style, this second half is
hardly 'minimalist'. There's plenty of melody and size created regardless
of how few instruments were grouped together. In "Beginning the Trip" there's
even a rhapsodic bit of jump 'n' jive. He's right to spotlight the differing
personalities within the one score, but once the jolt from one to the other
is passed it's still perceivable as a single entity.
Paul Tonks
