RANDY EDELMAN.

Randy Edelman was born on June 10, 1947, in Paterson, New Jersey, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for his collaboration with composer Trevor Jones on the Daniel Day Lewis movie The Last of the Mohicans, (1992), and scores in his own right such as Come See the Paradise (1990), XXX (2002) and Six Days, Seven Nights (1998).

He works with both conventional or symphonic instrumentation and electronic elements, often fusing these to create haunting and action-packed musical scores. Edelman attended the University of Cincinnati, upon his graduation Edelman travelled back to New York where he was signed by CBS April Blackwood Music as a staff writer.   It was at this time that he started to perform piano in various Broadway pit orchestras and continued his interest as a music arranger.  He went on tour from time to time as Music Director for many entertainers. 

It was while traveling that Randy began writing both his own music and lyrics looking to one day produce his own solo projects and albums. These albums would eventually lead him to work with the likes of The Carpenters, Frank Zappa, and The Mothers of Invention. His songs began being recorded by such popular recording artists as Barry Manilow (“Weekend In New England”), Olivia Newton-John, Patti LaBelle, The Carpenters, The 5th Dimension, Jackie DeShannon, Blood Sweat and Tears, Kool & The Gang, Agnetha Faltskog (ABBA), and Bing Crosby to name a few. 

Dennis Quaid and dragon looking up in a scene from the film ‘DragonHeart’, 1996.

Subsequent success of his records in the United Kingdom led to appearances on the BBC show Top of the Pops, concerts at the London Palladium and Drury Lane Theatres, and tours throughout Europe, Japan and Australia. He had hit records in the UK with ‘Concrete and Clay’ and ‘Uptown, Uptempo Woman’. His main theme composed for Dragonheart (1996) and Dragon; The Bruce Lee story (1993) were both heavily used in movie trailers, at the end of the 90s. Several of the themes from his score for the epic movie Gettysburg (1993) (e.g. the cue entitled Fife and Gun) are used frequently in various film trailers and television programming, particularly sports coverage. His theme from The Adventures of Brisco County Jnr.  (1993) was used in coverage of the Olympics in 2002, and again by NBC during its coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The composer Scored seven movies for director Rob Cohen. From Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story to The Boy Next Door.  He was also credited in early trailers for scoring Cohen’s Stealth, but his score never appeared in the movie.

GETTYSBURG

It was shortly after arriving in Los Angeles that Randy became interested in using his background as a classical musician and arranger to pursue his interest in film scoring.  In between his album recording he began scoring several television and feature films.  His TV scoring work included MacGyver, Maximum Security, Mr. Sunshine, Brisco County Jr. to name but a few.  Children’s projects included PBS Wonderworks, The Care Bears album and several award-winning after school specials.  After working predominantly on pop songs Edelman found the work, he did for film more liberating and decided to devote his time to pursuing composing music for motion pictures. He has now composed over one hundred scores for film and television. His music has been performed by such orchestras as, The Boston Pops, Charleston Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, and the London Symphony Orchestra, to name a few.

His score from The Last Of The Mohicans was nominated for both the British Academy Award and the Golden Globe. His movie themes have become a backbone of numerous sports broadcasts. And he has written the NBC’s NFL Football Theme, ESPN’s Sports Century documentary series theme, and the on-air Olympic theme for NBC. His scores have opened the Super Bowl and closed the Olympic broadcast for which he received an Emmy Award. In 200 he scored the comedy western Shanghai Noon, in which the composer fused the style of the old western as made in Hollywood with the sound of the Euro western, whilst also placing his own musical fingerprint upon the production.

SHANGHAI NOON.

In 2003 Randy received BMI’s highest honour, the Richard Kirk Award for Outstanding Career Achievement. In June 2004 Randy Edelman was awarded an Honourary Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati. He received the Ph.D. along with three other distinguished honourees from various fields, including Coretta Scott King. In 2005 Randy had his biggest chart record with Nelly’s My Place. It reached the top of the pile on Billboard’s Rap and Hip Hop charts and achieved a number four position on the Pop chart. In 2007, Edelman was nominated by the IFMCA (International Film Music Critics Association) for “Best Original Score For Television” for ABC’s mini-series The Ten Commandments.

DRAGONHEART-BATTLE FOR THE HEARTFIRE.

 

Composer Mark McKenzie for me has always written some beautiful thematic and emotive music. He is a composer who always steps up to the mark and brings much to any project he works on via his truly captivating style of composition. His latest work is DRAGON HEART, BATTLE FOR THE HEART FIRE. This is a score that is predominantly electronic or shall we say synthesised, with a handful of conventional instruments being included throughout the work. The movie is one that will go straight to Blu Ray, and will not as far as I am aware receive a release in theatres. This does not mean that the movie is not worthy of such a release, and the score certainly is not in any way inferior to anything that has been written for any number of so called blockbusters in the past two to three years.

The score is to be released on, Universal Studio’s Back Lot Music label and should be available on June 9th, 2017, although it is already available on Spotify. This is the fourth instalment of the DRAGONHEART series, and Patrick Stewart is voicing the star of the show DRAGO for this tale. This will be the third movie within the series that composer McKenzie has worked on, the original movie in the franchise being scored by Randy Edelman. The score that McKenzie has penned is a highly emotive one, the composer incorporating a wide range of musical colours, textures and styles, we are treated to some wonderfully uplifting and at times anthem like pieces that give the listener goose-bumps at times. This is a soundtrack that incorporates, Celtic flavoured compositions alongside dark and menacing sounds, plus passionate and vibrant compositions that are filled with romance and tinged with melancholy. The work displays perfectly the versatility of this talented but alas at times ignored composer. I love the way in which the composer employs solo cello giving the score real heart and soul, adding a touch of sadness to the proceedings.

 

 

He also makes use of Randy Edelman’s original and now iconic DRAGONHEART theme at certain points within the score and gives this a fresh and regal sound that is rich and sumptuous. This is a powerful score, a commanding and fearsome sounding work, which I am confident will not disappoint and fan of film music. Although this is for the most part a synthesised work, one just gets enveloped by the driving forces behind the music and the numerous musical colours that the composer puts into the mix. Highly recommended.

 

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

 

Randy Edelman for me has always been a composer of note, ok he has normally been involved with films that are of a lighter storyline, ie- MY COUSIN VINNY and KINDERGARTEN COP, but I remember hearing GETTYSBURG for the first time and being blown away by the way in which he was able to get such an epic sound out of synthesisers. His score for COME SEE THE PARADISE also impressed me, with its simple but effective and poignant  theme. This  offering from the composer is obviously, given the films subject matter a large scale score, and Edelman does effectively pull out all of the stops creating a powerful and booming soundtrack, but saying this he also gives to us some marvellously lyrical melodies, showing us just how versatile he is, cello is utilised within the score a number of times and its sorrowful almost sombre rich sound is welcome every time it raises its head. Overall the score has the sound of both Goldsmith and Silvestri present within it, surging strings, rasping brass, ominous sounding choir and tumultuous percussion all combining to create a grandiose and exciting sound. I am not telling untruths when I say that every track on this CD is a delight, there is certainly something here to keep every collector happy. The action cues are relentless, the love themes are sumptuous and even the minor cues are more than worthy. One of my favourite cues is track number 7 THE READING OF THE SCROLLS, the composer treats us to a slow and somewhat subdued beginning, which suddenly erupts into a full blown action cue, this however is short lived and Edelman returns us to relative calm utilising strings and solo female voice, that lead into a richly mysterious sounding composition. The sounds created here by Edelman are threatening, poignant and magical. Track 9 ALEX AND LIN is also a cue that I would highlight as being one of the scores brighter moments if that is at all possible as every track is excellent, another thing about this score is that Edelman does infuse a sound that is oriental, but he never goes over the top which makes these compositions more credible in a way. So for collectors who dismissed Edelman or thought of him as a B list composer in the past, should now I think reconsider their opinion. This is an entertaining score, that rivals Goldsmiths original Mummy score, and equals Silvestri’s work on the second instalment. Worth a listen…