Soundtracking with Edith Bowman

After 22 films featuring a legion of heroes and villains, it is the end (of sorts) for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Avengers: Endgame is the culmination of an epic undertaking on the part of Marvel Studios, and delivers thrills, laughs, spectacular set pieces and one or two tears. 

We've done our best to avoid spoilers, but if you haven't seen Endgame or indeed Infinity War, you might want to wait before diving in to this latest episode of Soundtracking.

As with Infinity War, Endgame directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, with the score provided by Alan Silvestri. And in the fine tradition of the Marvel movies, we've got a rather large bonus at the end of our conversation in the shape of our first interview with the Russo brothers, to save you searching for it on the internet. It really is worth revisiting.

What links Gandhi, Dangerous Liaisons, Groundhog Day, My Name Is Joe, The Fisher King and You've Got Mail?

The answer is composer George Fenton, who scored all of these films as well as a hundred-odd more! He also provided the music for several big budget BBC wildlife documentaries, including as The Trials Of Life and Blue Planet and Planet Earth.

So we are indeed in esteemed company on our latest episode of Soundtracking, the original podcast about screen music.

We caught up with George at his wonderful home on the release of Red Joan, a British spy drama starring Sophie Cookson and Judi Dench. As usual, you'll hear George's work from this and other movies throughout the conversation, as well his experiences of collaborating with Stephen Frears, Terry Gilliam, Ken Loach, Nora Ephron and Sir Richard Attenborough. 

Our guest on this week's Soundtracking is not necessarily a name you'll be familiar with. But as a movie fan, you'll certainly know the music he has had a key hand in.

For in his 20 years at Air Studios, Jake Jackson has produced and engineered an extraordinary number of magnificent scores. As well as being Nick Cave and Warren Ellis's go-to guy, he has also worked on Gladiator, Pete's Dragon and Under the Skin among many other well-known films. Indeed, his work has featured on at least 20 episodes of this podcast, which is why we were so keen to get him on.

It's three for the price of one in our latest episode of Soundtracking, as director Tom Harper, writer Nicole Taylor and actress Jessie Buckley join me to discuss their new film, Wild Rose.

Set in Glasgow, Wild Rose tells the story of Rose-Lyne Harlan, a troubled working class mother of two who dreams of becoming a country star in Nashville. With strong support from Julie Walters and Sophie Okonedo, it's a moving, bittersweet affair, that never goes in quite the direction you're expecting. It also features plenty of music - some of which you'll recognise and some of which is totally original.

Indeed, with the help of their music guru Jack Arnold, Nicole and Jessie wrote several of the songs that appear in the movie. 

Our latest episode of Soundtracking is another live event, recorded at the British Film Institute in London with writer, director & actor Andy Serkis and musician Nitin Sawhney.

The pair have collaborated on several occasions, most recently on Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle, Andy's performance capture reimagining of The Jungle Book. It's available to watch now via Netflix, and if you haven't seen it already we highly recommend it. Nitin also provided the score for Breathe - Andy's directorial debut.

As alway's, you'll hear plenty of music from both films during the conversation and plenty more besides.

You wait months for a guest to talk with authority about scary movies, then two come along at once. Following Jordan Peele's fine turn in our previous episode, we're delighted to welcome Eli Roth to the show this time round.

Eli is a writer, director, actor and producer who came to prominence with films such as Cabin Fever and Hostel. While much of his work is not for the faint hearted, his latest project, The House With A Clock In Its Walls, follows the great Spielberg tradition of frightening family fun. 

Eli is also an encyclopaedia when it comes to score - to the point at which we couldn't source half of the music he refers to. But no matter: as you'll hear, he delivers quite the lesson nonetheless ...

We haven't featured as much horror as we'd like on Soundtracking, so it really is a great thrill for us to welcome the man of the moment in that particular field, Jordan Peele.

Having forged a hugely successful career as a comedian and actor, Jordan won an Oscar and numerous other accolades for his debut feature, Get Out, which blended traditional genre tropes with social observation to create something altogether fresh.

Now he follows it up with the equally brilliant Us, in which a family is confronted by a group of doppelgängers. Both films were scored by Michael Abels, who had never previously worked on a movie until Jordan came along.

We'll hear plenty of Michael's work, as well as some of the truly brilliant needle drops that are used across the Get Out and Us.

Two extremely talented gentlemen join us for our latest episode of Soundtracking, better known for their work in fields other than cinema. 

But in Benjamin, writer / director Simon Amstell and composer James Righton of Klaxons fame have collaborated on a film that is tender, moving and also very funny.

Starring Colin Morgan and Phénix Brossard, Benjamin tells the story of a filmmaker who is forced to confront life's big questions as he embarks on a relationship with a charismatic young musician.  

As ever, you'll hear plenty of James' score, as well as an insight into Simon's CD soundtrack collection ...

There is a fine tradition of female singers who have made the successful transition to cinema - from Barbara Streisand and Queen Latifah to Diana Ross and Lady Gaga. And we can certainly include R&B goddess Mary J Blige on that list.

Having sold over 80 million records, Mary has a string of impressive acting credits to her name too. She played Malcom X's widow Dr Betty Shabazz in Betty and Coretta, and was nominated for an Oscar for performance as matriarch Florence Jackson in the deeply moving period drama, Mudbound.

Mary is equally at home at the less-serious end of the entertainment spectrum, as demonstrated by her turns in Rock Of Ages and The Umbrella Academy, which is available now on Netflix. 

We should say that we had some terrible static interference on the recording of this interview, which we genuinely think may have been caused by Mary's earrings! We've tried to clean it up as best we can, but do forgive us as and when the quality occasionally dips below our usual high standards …

Head to Itunes and search for our playlist for this episode, to listen to every track that is featured on the show, in the order we play it. Alternatively, cut and paste the following link:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/playlist/soundtracking-with-edith-bowman-episode-132-mary-j-blige/pl.u-6mo4l9mhpzG6x

Genius though he is, Martin Scorsese would be the first to admit the enormous debt of gratitude he owes to one Thelma Schoonmaker.

For Thelma is the woman who has edited over 20 of his movies, from Raging Bull and Casino to Gangs Of New York and The Departed. So it's truly an honour to welcome her to Soundtracking, the weekly screen music podcast. As you'd hope, she has some great stories to share with us.

Thelma was married to the late Michael Powell, one half of the legendary partnership Powell and Pressburger. Their work influenced Martin hugely - and indeed it was he who introduced Thelma to her would-be husband.

You'll hear plenty of music from their films, as well as some of the more memorable cues to feature in Martin's back catalogue. There are a few notable clips to enjoy, too ...