Jazz in pornos.

[Hardbopjazz]

A friend offered to send me a copy of a porno where Dexter Gordon and his band are playing the music. Does anyone know more about this?

Edited February 14, 2014 by Hardbopjazz

[sidewinder]

Must be Danish !

[BillF]

Wasn't Bill Hardman on that one?

[Cyril]

Must be Danish !

Yep.

Gordon found Europe in the 1960s a much easier place to live, saying that he experienced less racism and greater respect for jazz musicians. Furthermore in America he had experienced drug addiction and imprisonment twice, and must have found the change of location helpful. While in Copenhagen, Dexter Gordon and Kenny Drew's trio appeared onscreen in Ole Ege's theatrically released hardcore pornographic film "Pornografi "(1971), for which they composed and performed the score.

[Hardbopjazz]

That's the one.

I am told when the band plays the sex stops.

Wasn't Bill Hardman on that one?

Funny

[sidewinder]

Wasn't Bill Hardman on that one?

Spanky deBrest on bass?

[Mark Stryker]

There's a montage clip on youtube that's been recut but still NSFW -- keywords "dexter gordon and kenny drew pornography musical"

Edited February 14, 2014 by Mark Stryker

[sgcim]

In the early to mid 1960s, before hardcore or softcore porn existed, most of the movies they'd play at the 'Grindhouse' theaters would feature some type of jazz soundtrack. There would be no music credits listed, so there's no way of knowing who's playing, or which composer wrote the music.

A good, Catholic boy such as myself, would have no knowledge of movies such as that, but a friend of mine told me he saw one from about '64 that had a jazz quartet with what sounded like Herbie Hancock and Freddie Hubbard going completely maniacal for about a half hour straight on some very modern (for the time) sounding modal thing.

Unfortunately, the Meeker book wouldn't have any info on something like that.

[king ubu]

some great Dexter there, all new to me - thanks!

[AllenLowe]

just as an aside, both Mike Bloomfield and Frank Zappa did porn soundtracks.

[JSngry]

I heard "Big Swing Face" in a porno soundtrack in Vegas, 1981. Laughed my ass off at how surreally perfect the whole thing was.

I guess that laughter in a porno theater is not a commonly heard sound, but there are some things in life you learn after the fact.

[ArtSalt]

A lot of Italian composers, including Morricone and the likes of Piero Umiliani, Bruno Nicolai, et al flirted with some wonderful bossa nova and jazz soundtracks for soft porn films in the late 60s and 70s. I actually really like them, the music not the films that is!

I've heard of the Dexter Gordon porno film soundtrack, but never come across it, even in the outer reaches of my ebay adventures.

[Hardbopjazz]

Now that I am home I was able to watch the clip on youtube. Dexter is playing so lovely, and so is Kenny Drew and the band. The 70s is my favorite Dexter period.

I can't wait till I get to hear all of the music from this film.

[Rooster_Ties]

just as an aside, both Mike Bloomfield and Frank Zappa did porn soundtracks.

Zappa, really? I thought he did an audio-only project (a commission, iirc), that was deemed 'pornographic' by the local authorities -- or something like that.

I'm not as deeply steeped in Zappa lore as I once was 10-15 years ago, so my claim is certainly not authoritative.

[AllenLowe]

I may be wrong, then; but I seem to recall it was for an actual movie. I'll see if I can find out. I do know he got in some legal trouble for it.

Edited February 15, 2014 by AllenLowe

[HolyStitt]

It is not really Jazz & I have never seen the film but Bernard Purdie recorded the music for the porn film Lialeh.

[sgcim]

just as an aside, both Mike Bloomfield and Frank Zappa did porn soundtracks.

Zappa, really? I thought he did an audio-only project (a commission, iirc), that was deemed 'pornographic' by the local authorities -- or something like that.

I'm not as deeply steeped in Zappa lore as I once was 10-15 years ago, so my claim is certainly not authoritative.

The only movie that Zappa did that I'm aware of was a crazy flick in the 60s called "The World's Greatest Sinner"(1962). It was made by the crazy character actor Timothy Carey, and I've got it on tape.

To quote the Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film:

"Frank Zappa did the music for this oddity about an insurance salesman who decides he's God, and becomes a rock 'n' roll evangelist to spread the word."

It's not a porno film- just very weird. I've pretty much spent my life looking for weird flicks like this...

A lot of Italian composers, including Morricone and the likes of Piero Umiliani, Bruno Nicolai, et al flirted with some wonderful bossa nova and jazz soundtracks for soft porn films in the late 60s and 70s. I actually really like them, the music not the films that is!

I've heard of the Dexter Gordon porno film soundtrack, but never come across it, even in the outer reaches of my ebay adventures.

I don't know about porn, but those composers like BN, PU and EM wrote some great music for the Italian "Giallo" films of the 60s and 70s.

[Dan Gould]

I want to say that I read on the board that there was a reasonably well-known jazz musician who composed/recorded original jazz for one of the porn studios (Vivid?) in the late 80s or early 90s. I've seen some clips with pretty straightahead jazz in the background and years ago toyed with trying to lift the audio and use it on a BFT.

Someone has got to know/remember this? Who was the musician recording jazz for pornos at the tail end of the video era? I want to say it was either a pianist or a saxophonist, and that he was in, like, Mulgrew Miller's age cohort or just a bit younger.

[Rooster_Ties]

Re: Zappa, in addition to "The World's Greatest Sinner", he also composed the score to the 1965 film "Run Home Slow".

Here are the opening credits, with a theme Zappa revisited a few times over the years following... ...and given the thread topic, I guess I'll mention that this is totally safe-for-work. :-)

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oEP0huRwDyc

Edited February 16, 2014 by Rooster_Ties