The Joe Policastro Trio just released Screen Sounds, an album of re-imagined film and TV scores. It’s a natural evolution for Policastro, whose first release in 2013 was a jazz arrangement of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. The bassist’s work brings out the genius of composers whose opuses are often hidden, layered into the background of iconic scenes.
Drummer Mikel Avery and guitarist Dave Miller, who join Policastro in the Chicago-based alternative jazz ensemble, infuse elements of funk, bossa nova and rock, highlighting the versatility of the scores and opening them up to audiences with diverse tastes. Isthmus spoke with Policastro about the relationship between screen and sound in advance of the trio’s Oct. 20 show at Arts + Literature Lab.
Why did you decide to make an album of movie and TV scores?
Movies and TV for me were really a gateway of discovery to so much music. I didn’t come from a musical family, so the first time I heard any classical music or jazz, and most of the rock bands that were influential to me, I found through television and movies.
What’s your favorite film score of all time?
My favorite film from top to bottom is The Third Man. The zither score to that film is just so overwhelming — I think it’s beautiful. We did the love scene from Blade Runner on the new album and I think that analog synthesizer score was amazing. The Ennio Morricone score from Once Upon a Time in the West also comes to mind.
As a bandleader who takes such pride in arrangements, how do you incorporate solos and improvisation?
Everybody improvises in the band, but we are much more of a musical collective. Typically when you have the “such-and-such trio,” you have one guy who solos and the other guys back him up. This band doesn’t function like that at all. Everyone’s voices are present at all times, with the music being serviced by the band. Mikel and Dave make such an important sonic and emotional contribution to the music.
Roger Ebert said, “The movies are like a machine that generates empathy. It lets you understand a little bit more about different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears.” Is there a connection between that ethos and your music?
This goes back to what I think we are looking for in every experience, but especially [in] art. You want to be impacted, you want to be affected. That emotional element must be present — or what’s the point? There are all these memories associated with things you know: movies, theme songs, pop songs. We try to re-imagine these musical touchstones by keeping the original piece in place and taking it to a different world. When people take existing art in a different direction, it can shed new light on the original piece and become another piece of art in itself.
