Quick Review: Babylon

Babylon
Music composed by Justin Hurwitz
Orchestrated and conducted by Justin Hurwitz
Album running time: 97 minutes
Available on Interscope Records

By now, we know director Damien Chazelle and Justin Hurwitz love jazz.  They've collaborated on Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009), Whiplash (2014), La La Land (2016) and First Man (2018) - many of which are jazz based scores.  In their films, music is often the subject and carries much of the weight of the film.  And boy this movie is covered in music - namely source music performed by the on screen bands and film ensembles.  We hear a lot of party music throughout with a 1940s big band style (even if the film takes place in the 1920s).  There is traditional film score as well, held together mainly by the main character theme.  It's a long album, so I'll be brief with a mostly non-spoiler rundown.

Welcome starts with crowd hoots and vocals adding to the saxophones, clarinets and trumpets with some solos taking over this raucous party music.  Next we meet an important part of the emotional underscore in Manny and Nellie’s Theme.  The minor key honky-tonk piano and finger snaps sound like a very close relative of "City of Stars" - this theme will come back in different reprises throughout the score.  King of the Circus continues the party scoring with interesting vocals and drums before the repetitive pattern adds the woodwinds and brass.  Jazz source continues in Jub Jub with another repeating riff for brass/sax.  

Coke Room is a lively version of the Manny/Nellie Theme featuring sax.  My Girl's Pussy is is a slow jazz number performed at the party (original lyrics by Harry Roy from 1931!) while Idaho picks up the lively pace and features Theremin.  Voodoo Mama is the signature piece of the film and used in much of the advertising as Nellie wildly dances at the party - we hear the growling saxes and wailing trumpet that builds until the chaotic ending.  Gold Coast Rhythm (Wallach Party) is the music as everyone scraps themselves together after the party - with a few melodic similarities to La La LandAin't Life Grand brings back the Manny/Nellie theme with honky-tonk piano, added organ and vibes.  Babylon features erhu and a large buildup signifying the title card.

Morning is mix of Schubert-inspired classical and jazz with piano and strings taking the lead.  As we see the Kinescope filming day, we get several source cues: Kinescope Ragtime Piano, Kinescope Erhu (Orientally Yours) on erhu, Kinescope Carnival Music cleverly reprising the music from the opening, and Kinescope Organ Music.  We also see a full orchestra on set performing the classical work Night on Bald Mountain (Modest Mussorgsky) as they stage the large action fight.  

Herman's Hustle uses Manny/Nellie's theme on sax with some wild percussion.  Gold Coast Sunset underscores the funny moment of getting the last shot before the sun sets with a bit of Wagner's Liebestod as classical inspiration.  Champagne, a samba-like piece based on unused La La Land music builds with trumpet solos.  Wild Child is a fun jazz piece with chorus over the montage of Nellie's rise to fame.  Manny/Nellie's theme returns as they reconnect in New York, while the theme is more bare and sadder in See You Back in LARed Devil is jazz source party music after Kinescope moves to talking pictures.

I Want a Man is a steel drum version of Manny/Nellie's theme in addition to lyrics barely heard in the party background.  We see an erhu playing at the party as Orientally Yours expands on the Kinescope source heard earlier - this time with a seductive interlude.  Gimme underscores Nellie taking over the party leading them to the snake fight in the desert.  In the studio, we see the studio filming the The Hollywood Revue of 1929 version of Singin' in the Rain with trumpet obbligato.  Pharaoh John, another source jazz piece underscoring the rise of trumpet player Sidney Palmer.

As Manny and Nellie reconnect, we hear a bit of their melancholic theme in Meet Miss LaRoyCall Me Manny continues the upbeat version of their theme.  Classical inspiration à la Ravel's Bolero underscores Nellie's attempt to class things up at the Hearst PartyDamascus Thump is aggressive quasi-source with featured a heartbreaking moment Sidney Palmer on trumpet.  All Figured Out returns back to Manny/Nellie's theme.  Nea Smyrni plays as we enter the exotic world of the mob and Waikele Tango plays during the odd encounter with the mob boss.  For their unnerving visit to the "underworld", we hear Toad and Blockhouse - full of Theremin-esque electronics and processed voices.  Listen closely for the early party theme appearing in the latter cue.

Jack's Party Band is boppy party music while Gold Coast Rhythm (Jack’s Party) is the same laidback tune heard after the initial party.  Levántate and Señor Avocado are Latin-eque pieces as Manny and Nellie escape to Mexico with some great jazz trumpet moments.  Source music returns in Heyo with vocals and Gold Coast Rhythm (Juan Bonilla) brings back a peppier version of that theme heard a few times.

Te Amo Nellie brings the Manny/Nellie theme back as she dances into the dark.  We see Sidney's return to the stage and hear Gold Coast Rhythm (Sidney’s Solo) with more elaborate trumpet solo.  The same piece underscores a melancholic montage of the passage of time.  Manny wanders Los Angeles and into a movie theater, catching Singin' in the Rain.  As he's watching, we get to hear a wistful version of their theme in Manny and Nellie’s Theme (Reprise)Finale continues with their theme before overlapping the opening party theme, as he flashbacks to his time in Hollywood.  The music turns to wild cacophony and a reprise of the title card music.         

In Babylon, Hurwitz's music blurs the line between score and source music.  What starts as party music, transfers over to montages, and full dialogue scenes.  If some of the music seems repetitive during the cues, it is often dialed down during dialogue or when the band isn't seen. 
The main themes that return are changed around enough to follow the story, mainly Manny and Nellie's Theme and the Gold Coast Rhythm.  They are easy to follow during the film and represent the story on the album.

This album is the total listening package, much like the La La Land Complete Musical Experience combination of song and score albums.  Fans of the score could easily trim the 97 minute release into a more concentrated listen if they so choose.

Hurwitz didn't step completely out of his comfort zone with this score, but his sheer ambition to create a nonstop party with generous amounts of source music, electronics, fantastic instrumental solos over a ton of sessions is admirable.  The amount of music and its importance in the film is what has clearly caught on with listeners and critics alike.

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