The Goldsmith Odyssey

With only three days left to pledge your support for a New Recording of Jerry Goldsmith's score to The Chairman on Kickstarter, Jens makes an impassioned plea to all of you to help make it happen.Click here for the Kickstarter page

Intrada's new release of Jerry Goldsmith’s original film tracks for Islands in the Stream gave us the opportunity to not only talk about a score the composer regarded as a personal favorite, but also to share memories of Intrada’s beloved founder, Douglass Fake. On this very special Soundtrack Spotlight, the complete Odyssey team — Jens, Yavar, David, and Clark — is joined by Intrada producer Roger Feigelson, shipping manager Jeff Johnson, media consultant Joe Sikoryak, liner notes writer Frank DeWald, and mastering engineer Chris Malone. First you’ll hear a discussion of the new album, including details on the sound improvements this release makes over the original FSM presentation, the integrity of Goldsmith’s work as a complete composition, Intrada’s long history with this score, and more. Following this, the group takes some time to offer personal memories of Doug, who meant a great deal to all of us in different ways. In addition, at the program’s conclusion you'll hear a special bonus: a pair of never-before-released excerpts of past conversations with Doug, teasing the then-unreleased Intrada presentations of Goldsmith’s MacArthur and John Williams’s The Patriot. This is a meaningful one, and we hope you’ll enjoy it.Please send your correspondence to [email protected].

Say, what's that great big thing, amidst this collection of freshly-lopped heads? Sacre bleu! I's a new regular episode! Longtime friend of the show (and Certified Thriller Expert) Leigh Phillips joins David, Yavar, and Clark to discuss Jerry Goldsmith's music for the Thriller installment "Guillotine," a score that is by turns ominous, slyly beautiful, and darkly playful. The guys examine the score's echoes of other Goldsmith works (particularly Basic Instinct), debate the degree to which the episode is intended as dark comedy, consider the possibility of this score being re-recorded for a potential third volume of Leigh's Thriller series in the future, and much more. So grab a big plate of fresh pancakes, press play, and enjoy!Thriller: Guillotine Track List!Please send your correspondence to [email protected].

In June of 2024, The Austin Symphony offered an evening of live Jerry Goldsmith music containing selections from Gremlins, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Total Recall, and other beloved scores. A few months later, Yavar and Clark — who were in attendance at the concert, along with Goldsmith Odyssey co-founder Jens — spoke to conductor Peter Bay and principal librarian Ali Verderber about the performance. You'll hear about Peter's long-time passion for Goldsmith's music, Ali's efforts to secure the rights to certain pieces, the difficulty of staging a Goldsmith concert vs. a John Williams program, the pieces that proved most challenging in rehearsals, and much more! It’s a fun and informative chat, and we hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did.Here is your track list!Please send your correspondence to [email protected].

It's always a treat to hear from filmmakers who got to work directly with Jerry, and we're thrilled that director Jonathan Kaplan took the time to share his memories with us. In this wide-ranging Odyssey Interview, Jonathan tells David and Yavar about his father Sol Kaplan's career as a film composer, the thrill of watching Isaac Hayes perform the Truck Turner score, collaborating with Goldsmith on Love Field and Bad Girls, helping James Horner craft the main theme for Unlawful Entry, the budget limitations that led to Brad Fiedel creating a solo electronic score for The Accused, and so much more! This one is a lively, entertaining chat that's loaded with great stories (and plenty of musical illustrations), so we hope you’ll give it a listen.Track List - Odyssey Interviews - Jonathan Kaplan on Sol Kaplan, Love Field, and Bad GirlsPlease send your correspondence to [email protected].

Our intermittent exploration of Jerry Goldsmith's early radio work continues with a 2-for-1 special: an episode of CBS Radio Workshop that offers brief dramatizations of the Ray Bradbury short stories "Season of Disbelief" and "Hail and Farewell" (both of which are introduced by Bradbury himself). Your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark explore the rich, sensitive small-scale scores Goldsmith created for these stories, both of which contain memorable themes and compelling musical ideas. While all three members of the team regard "Hail and Farewell" rather warmly, "Season of Disbelief" prompts some strikingly different interpretations and spirited conversation. We've included the full presentation of both stories within the episode for your consideration, so you can form your own opinions on the matter. If you're looking for something to listen to attempting to grasp the rope of life, give this one a spin! Our hope is that it'll provide a bit of solace when the rope inevitably hisses through your fingers.The Bradbury Show Track List!Please send your correspondence to [email protected].

Jerry Goldsmith's music has been present in multiple Hollywood blockbusters this year, and his musical voice is particularly prominent in John Paesano's score for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. In this Odyssey Interview, Yavar and Goldsmith biographer Jeff Bond talk with Paesano about the challenges of finding a middle ground between Goldsmith's iconic original score and the more recent sound Michael Giacchino has established for the series, director Wes Ball's passion for film music, Paesano's slow and steady path to finding success as a film composer, assisting Goldsmith on some of the legendary composer's later film scores, and much more! Whether you're one of our human listeners or an intelligent ape doing research on human musical preferences, we think you'll find this an engaging conversation. Enjoy!Edited by Wes DeckersPlease send your correspondence to [email protected].

Returning guest Carlos Rafael Rivera joins us for our longest episode to date!In the opening portion of the show, Carlos takes us on an in-depth guided tour of the history of Spanish classical guitar music, providing a brilliant framework through which to view the music we'll be covering.After that, Carlos joins your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark for an exploration of three guitar-based Goldsmith radio scores: the Hallmark Hall of Fame installment "Simón Bolívar," plus the CBS Romance episodes "Córdoba" and "The Guitar." Additionally, we return to Goldsmith's early Toccata for Solo Guitar concert work, this time with expert insights from our guest.Finally, we take some time to catch up with Carlos on the work he's been doing in recent years, offering comments on and samples from projects like Lessons in Chemistry, Monsieur Spade, Ezra, Just Beyond, Chupa, and more!Despite lasting nearly as long as Simón Bolívar’s exile in Jamaica, we think there's a great deal to savor in this one. Listen in manageable chunks, or just sit back and spend the day with us. Enjoy!Here's your The Early Guitar Scores (1954-1958) with Carlos Rafael Rivera Track list!  Please send your correspondence to [email protected].

Are you now, or have you ever been, a Jerry Goldsmith fan? If so, you won't want to miss our third and final production report on Leigh Phillips' marvelous Jerry Goldsmith at The General Electric Theater series. Your humble hosts David, Yavar, and Clark chat with Leigh about the three latest additions: the stark and grim "My Dark Days," the cheerfully Italian-flavored "The Committeeman," and the gorgeous library music collection "Autumn Love." In addition to exploring the various challenges of bringing these scores to the finish line, Leigh reflects on the success of the GE Theater project as a whole, and takes some time to talk about what he might be tackling in the future. Along the way, you'll hear samples from each of the scores, and behind-the-scenes excerpts of Leigh working his talented ensemble of players. So grab a plate of mama's homemade spaghetti, and take a listen!Please send your correspondence to [email protected].

We know what you’re thinking: "Wait… didn't you guys already do an Inchon Soundtrack Spotlight?" Indeed we did, back in 2020, when Intrada rereleased Jerry Goldsmith's memorable score for the otherwise largely forgotten 1981 Korean War drama. Now, Intrada has released the score yet again, with improved audio and a small handful of new extras. In this follow-up Spotlight, your humble hosts David and Clark chat with Intrada's Douglass Fake and audio engineer Chris Malone about the surprising discovery that led to this new release, the ways in which this score improves on the audio quality offered by previous releases, the various engineering decisions that affect the quality of a film music recording, the thought process that goes into deciding whether or not to reissue a score, and much more. Those who have already purchased one or more of the previous editions of the score will undoubtedly have differing opinions on whether or not to upgrade, but we hope this program will prove a useful resource in helping you make an informed decision. So give it a listen, and find out why you should consider visiting Inchon againchon! Your Odyssey Soundtrack Spotlight - Inchon Tech Talk with Doug Fake and Chris Malone Track ListPlease send your correspondence to [email protected].