One fateful evening, your humble hosts Yavar, David, and Clark gathered together to record a new installment of The Goldsmith Odyssey, focusing on the Playhouse 90 drama “Project Immortality”. The episode is a character-driven story with just a splash of sci-fi intrigue, starring Lee J. Cobb as a dying scientist who has agreed to let a team of researchers attempt to reproduce his brain using an advanced computer program. The accompanying Jerry Goldsmith score is frequently somber and sensitive, though it also contains some dazzling bursts of energy and color. If we're permitted to say so, it's a good conversation about a good episode of television. The only problem — and it's a sizable problem, to be honest — is that Clark's mic was having issues, and his audio sounds rather dismal as a result. An unfortunate turn of events, but we hope the conversation and analysis proves compelling enough to overcome this issue. Thanks for understanding, and enjoy the show!

Track List - Episode 37 - Project Immortality - Playhouse 90

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What's that mysterious sound coming from the room upstairs? Could it be the ghost of a murdered composer, playing a distinctly Goldsmithian melody on the piano? Mercifully, no. Upon closer inspection, it was just an audio clip featured in the latest installment of The Goldsmith Odyssey, which focuses on the Ida Lupino-directed Thriller episode "What Beckoning Ghost?" Your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark are joined by two special guests: director Amin Maltaqa and composer Panu Aaltio, both of whom have a wide variety of insights to offer on Goldsmith's playfully mysterious score. Also, if you want to get to know Amin and Panu a bit better and hear more about their Goldsmith fandom, be sure to check out our recent Odyssey Interview with them. Enjoy the show, and happy holidays!

Here's your handy Thriller - “What Beckoning Ghost?” Track List!

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While we've been honored to have both composers and directors appear on The Goldsmith Odyssey, it was a particular treat to welcome our first director-composer team to the program: filmmaker Amin Maltaqa and composer Panu Aaltio, whose new film 5000 Blankets is playing in theaters December 12 & 13 (and will be streamable in the months ahead). In this Odyssey Interview, Amin and Panu tell your humble hosts Yavar, David, and Clark about their deep and abiding film music fandom, their love of Jerry Goldsmith, their collaborative process, and much more! Naturally you'll hear plenty of excerpts from Panu's new score: a melodic, emotional work marked by memorable themes, striking orchestrations, and a welcome sense of old-fashioned romanticism. And stay tuned for our next regular episode, in which Amin and Panu will join us for an examination of Jerry's score for the Thriller installment “What Beckoning Ghost?” Enjoy!

To hear Amin and Panu do a deeper dive into Panu’s thematic material and its development over the course of 5000 Blankets, check out this video featurette on YouTube!

Mentioned in the show, Erik Woods' program, Cinematic Sound Radio has covered Panu's music a few times.  Here are those shows, Episode 37 being the one to which Amin refers:
http://www.cinematicsound.net/tag/panu-aaltio/

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On the record, off the QT, and not even remotely hush hush: it's a new Soundtrack Spotlight! Yavar is joined by liner notes writer and film music journalist Tim Greiving for a conversation about Varese Sarabande's new Deluxe Edition of Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar-nominated score for L.A. Confidential. You'll hear about how this score represents the culmination of Goldsmith's noir-themed work, why Tim didn't connect with the film, Tim's approach to the liner notes, the balance between source music and score in the film, Goldsmith's conservative approach to spotting, and more! Along the way, you'll hear plenty of excerpts from the new album, which adds over 15 minutes of previously unreleased music. So give it a listen! Life is good on The Goldsmith Odyssey... it's paradise on earth. Ha ha ha ha. That's what they tell you, anyway.

Here's your Odyssey Soundtrack Spotlight - L.A. Confidential Track List!

Even more helpful is this L.A. Confidential Comparison spreadsheet made by Jason LeBlanc.  The film versions and album versions can be quite different, with alternate takes and different blends of cues.  We couldn't have covered all of this in the show, and now, you don't need us to!

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Want to hear some great Jerry Goldsmith stories? You could pay a major corporation to remember them for you wholesale... or you could listen to one of Jerry's most important collaborators remember them for free. In this Odyssey Interview, your humble hosts David, Jens, Yavar, and Clark are joined by a very special guest: legendary filmmaker Paul Verhoeven. Over the course of this conversation, you'll hear Paul talk about the pleasure of hearing Jerry's memorable music for Total Recall, the challenging (and ultimately rewarding) process of finding the right sound for Basic Instinct, why he was moved to tears by Jerry's music for Hollow Man, his admiration of Jerry's music for other movies, his attempt to reunite with Goldsmith and Arnold Schwarzenegger on the unrealized blockbuster Crusade, the classical composers who influenced the musical sound of his movies, and much more. Sit back, relax, and enjoy a lively hour of memories and music!

Here is your handy, helpful, Odyssey Interviews - Paul Verhoeven Track List!

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One of Jerry's longest scores gets an appropriately substantial Soundtrack Spotlight! In celebration of Intrada's new two disc complete release of Jerry's alternately suspenseful, cerebral, and thrilling score for Paul Verhoeven's Hollow Man, your humble hosts Yavar, David, Clark, and Jens are pleased to welcome a quintet of special guests. Douglass Fake and Roger Feigelson of Intrada Records share details of how this album was assembled. Liner notes writer and film music historian Jeff Bond adds insightful commentary on the score and where it fits in Goldsmith's larger body of work. Plus we welcome two close Goldsmith collaborators who participated in the creation of this score: Recording engineer Bruce Botnick and synth programmer Nick Vidar join us to share their memories of the recording sessions and shed light on Jerry's approach to employing synths! You may not be able to see any of the participants, but we hope you'll enjoy hearing this wide-ranging, illuminating chat on one of the standout scores of Goldsmith's later years.

This episode is even shorter than Intrada's new release - truly a remarkable achievement given our history.

Here is your handy Odyssey Soundtrack Spotlight - Hollow Man Track List!

This episode contains clips from a radio program produced and hosted by Michael Moricz in January of 1988, The Audio Works Studio WDUQ.    It's one of the ones where Jerry really was forthcoming!

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Good evening, and welcome to Odyssey World News. Our top story tonight: in September of 2022, Jerry Goldsmith's iconic score for Rudy was performed live-to-picture by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Justin Freer. We sent two of our reporters, Jens Dietrich and W. David Lichty, to produce our very first Field Report. They had the opportunity to talk with Freer, who spoke at length about his love of Goldsmith, the process of preparing for a live-to-picture performance, which Goldsmith scores he'd most like to conduct next, and a host of other topics. The group was joined by noted film music enthusiast Ron Burbella, who had some fun and surprising anecdotes of his own to share. Additionally, David and Jens take a little time to share details of their own wonderful experiences surrounding the Rudy performance. Here's their report.

Once you've completed the main program, why not take a look at at Lichty and Burbella's written reports?

In case any future performances are arranged, keep an eye on the official Rudy in Concert website!

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Confession: we meant to record this episode back in April, but failed to do so. If this were happening to some other show, a lesser podcast perhaps, your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark suppose they might find this amusing. One expects ordinary podcasts to fail, to be betrayed by their own incompetence. We suppose we might even find a grotesque humor in our predicament if our failure were due to any lack of logic or skill on our part. But to be betrayed by this clumsy intrusion of scheduling... if one can call busy lives, varied work weeks, and unfinished prep work scheduling... well, no matter, we did the best we could, which is all any podcast of sensitivity and intelligence can do. What's it about, you ask? Why, it's about the Studio One episode "A Dead Ringer", which stars Gig Young as a man plotting the murder of his wealthy wife. It's a knotty hour of television featuring a compelling, Herrmannesque Goldsmith score, which features a variety of striking ideas and is largely built around a rising-and-falling ostinato. We're glad that we finally managed to get the recording done, and we hope you enjoy it. Still, all things considered, it does seem ironic that what was planned and eventually executed with such perfection, even artistry, should now be reduced to just another episode.

Track List - The Goldsmith Odyssey covers Westinghouse Studio One - A Dead Ringer - (1958)

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Our latest Soundtrack Spotlight may be smaller than most, but it's got a lot of heart! Liner notes writer and film music journalist Tim Greiving joins your humble host Yavar to talk about Varese Sarabande's new Deluxe Edition of Jerry Goldsmith's beloved score for Rudy. Among the topics of conversation: Tim's personal connection to the score, why he took a less analytical approach to the liner notes, standout moments from the previously unreleased music on the album, Goldsmith's personal affection for this project, and more. Enjoy the show, and stay tuned for another Rudy-themed program in the near future!

Edited by Wes Deckers

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La-La Land's Goldsmith at 20th series continues with the most exciting volume yet, and we have a new Soundtrack Spotlight to commemorate the occasion! Film music restoration experts Mike Matessino and Chris Malone join your humble hosts Yavar and David to discuss the varied challenges of working on seven different Goldsmith television projects composed between 1968 and 1975: Anna and the King, A Girl Named Sooner, Nick Quarry, Only in America, Prudence and the Chief, Room 222, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. You'll hear excerpts from all of these scores, along with discussion of where certain elements were found, which projects required the greatest degree of restoration work, how Goldsmith's work fits within the musical conventions of the era, and much more! This is one of the most exciting Goldsmith releases in some time (boasting two premieres and two significant expansions), so tune in and get a taste while waiting for your copy to arrive!

Edited by Wes Deckers

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