Search - Bob Belden :: Black Dahlia

Black Dahlia
Bob Belden
Black Dahlia
Genres: Jazz, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #1

Composer, arranger, and tenor saxophonist Bob Belden's 12-part orchestral tribute to Elizabeth Short recalls her as the "Black Dahlia," the dark-haired Hollywood actress who was killed in 1947. In this moving and moody wor...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Bob Belden
Title: Black Dahlia
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Blue Note Records
Release Date: 6/10/2003
Album Type: Hybrid SACD - DSD
Genres: Jazz, Pop
Styles: Swing Jazz, Orchestral Jazz
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 724354174520

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Composer, arranger, and tenor saxophonist Bob Belden's 12-part orchestral tribute to Elizabeth Short recalls her as the "Black Dahlia," the dark-haired Hollywood actress who was killed in 1947. In this moving and moody work Belden evokes Miles Davis, Henry Mancini, Chico O'Farrill, and Shorty Rogers. Belden employs an impressive cohort, including trumpeters Tim Hagans and Lew Soloff, tenor saxman Joe Lovano, and pianists Marc Copland and Kevin Hays. In this sprawling score they move from the hyper-speed tempo of "Genesis" and the Sketches of Spain tinges of "Dream World" and "Zanzibar" to the misty Billy Strayhorn-like title track and end with "Elegy," which features a rare tenor sax solo by Belden that recalls the elliptical phrases of Wayne Shorter. With this opus Bob Belden begins this century with inspiration and imagination. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

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CD Reviews

Soundtrack for the Film Noire movie that never was
rash67 | USA | 04/29/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)

"As is stated below, Elizabeth Short was a real life actress who came to L.A. with big dreams, and less talent, in the late thirties/ early forties. A striking beautiful, pale woman, she always dressed entirely in black. She had some bit parts. She was out of work. She descended into to twilight L.A. demi-monde. She met a gruesome death, a bizarre murder, still unsolved.



Bob Belden's music is quite successful at evoking the dark mid 40's, murky, moody, boozey environment that surrounded her life like a thick fog. The CD has the feel of a soundtrack for a film noir movie that has yet to filmed. Like "Chinatown", or "L.A. Confidential". But real soundtracks don't have the substance of this set of pieces on a common theme. Evocative. Similar to work by Charlie Haden & The Quartet West.



The trumpet part, as is said elsewhere, is reminescent of the lost-in-a-crowd melancholy of classic early Miles Davis. The orchestration doesn't overwhelm the solo voices. The earlier music starts out perky and upbeat, goes down tempo quickly. The end of the album is a fast Cuban/Latino song, she was last seen at a bar that featured hot latin Jazz, but most songs are dark and moody.



Read up on Elizabeth Short, The Black Dahlia, turn the lights down, close your eyes, turn on the music and watch your own movie in your head!"
A Life Story
Kenneth James Michael MacLean | Ann Arbor, MI USA | 01/07/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is the musical story of Elizabeth Short. The composer became fascinated with the life of a woman who, seeking love and the fulfillment of her dreams, found despair and an early death instead. This story is passionately told.
Although the CD has a music noir feeling running through it, especially cuts 1, 4,5 and 9, there is a lot of other interesting jazz. "In Flight" and "101 North" are real burners. "The Edge of Forever" is a high energy orchestral celebration. "Zanzibar" has a distinctly African flavor. And "Danza d'Amore" is a chance for Joe Lovano to showcase his considerable skills.
All of the cuts have a distinct theme and are there to tell the story. Each has a musical message. I really like the music on this CD and highly recommend it. It's one of my top ten jazz CD's of 2001."
Melodious, seductive, and etheral
Brian Bull | Sioux City, IA United States | 03/04/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Belden's tribute to Elizabeth Short (The Black Dahlia), an aspiring actress who was brutally murdered in the late 1940s, is an amazingly-crafted work that also mirrors the dreamlike music of Chinatown and other film noir pieces. A soundtrack without a movie, Black Dahlia instills a mythical and fantastic world around Short's difficult and lovelorn life, creating moods and atmospheres with some of jazz's top talent."