INTRADA Announces:
THE ORGANIZATION
Composed and Conducted by GIL MELLE
INTRADA Special Collection Volume 144
Gil Mellé had his work cut out for him in 1971 when he scored the third film in the landmark “Mister Tibbs” trilogy that began in 1967 —both previous films were scored in trend-setting fashion by Quincy Jones. This third film, The Organization, introduced a grittier, more realistic tone. Rather than continue scoring in a manner similar to the earlier installments, Mellé brought a fresh new approach to the character, infusing it with music full of vibrant brass and tense strings and layering into the fabric a strong experimental veneer. It is a relatively brief score by most standards, playing in deliberate manner just when needed. But when it plays it is given a high profile which adds much to the pace and excitement of the film. Producer Walter Mirisch chose Mellé for The Organization on the advice of sound engineer Don McDougall. This was a return to his musical roots with a combination of jazz ensemble and traditional symphonic orchestration. The music is carefully spotted, often defying expectations regarding music in a particular scene. The result is music that fully displays Mellé’s influences and experiments with music concrète—including John Cage’s use of unexpected and natural noises—as part of the sonic palette of the score.
Complete session elements no longer exist, however search efforts yielded crisp, clean ¼” two-track stereo masters offering just under a half hour of music, roughly edited and including most of the major set pieces—as if an album had already been planned. In fact, this assembly falls in line with how many other United Artists LPs were produced in the 70s, so this premiere release of Mellé's score could in fact be the very delayed release of an original LP program.
The Organization, directed by television veteran Don Medford, tells the story of community activists who take on the illegal drug syndicate—the eponymous “Organization”—after too many of their family members are affected by substance abuse. The film is a slick, well-paced action procedural peppered with accurate, urban vernacular. In addition to Sidney Poitier, The Organization is a Who’s Who of well-known television character actors and upand- comers from Gerald S. Laughlin as Lieutenant Pecora, Sheree North as Mrs. Morgan, Demond Wilson (Lamont from Sanford and Son), Max Gail (Barney Miller), Ron O’Neal, and Raul Julia.
This release is limited to 1000 units.
INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 144
Retail Price: $19.99
AVAILABLE NOW
For track listing and sound samples, please visit
http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.6742/.f
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