# What's good music for Film Noir? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661 "2003-10-10T12:53:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/1 "2003-10-10T12:53:34Z")
Hey Gang, I’ve been asked to put together some music to serve as background score for a production of an odd little play. The show is basically a parody of film-noir detective stories. The director asked for ‘some good blues saxophone’ for the show. Anyone have some suggestions as to which artists I should check out? Thanks for any help, Thwartme ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/2 "2003-10-10T13:45:08Z")
Nice topic! The first thing to come to my mind when I read the OP title was the music from _Chinatown_ which was trumpet iirc. I suspect a studio musician in the soundtrack, but it could have been any number of big band soloists. Chet Baker comes to mind as an option for that. Or Miles Davis. As for blues sax, you could look into Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young as a start. Current players would include Pete Christlieb. You might even listen to some Toots Thielemans harmonica. He’s done any number of soundtracks and the one to the McQueen/MacGraw _The Getaway_ is a good example of his style. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/3 "2003-10-10T14:34:59Z")
Should definitely be Jazz; bebop or swing, but for tension you could do worse than lifting bits from Ornette Coleman’s solos on the _Naked Lunch_ score. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/4 "2003-10-10T15:43:03Z")
Just a side note: old radio dramas that had a sort of noir twist include _Mike Hammer_ which used part of the title theme from _A Streetcar Named Desire_ that was composed by Alex North. The latter day TV version starring Stacy Keach used the moody _Harlem Nocturne_ but in an uptempo version. I find it interesting that the same person composed that tune and the theme music for the Andy Griffith show. ---
**Author:** ![moodtobestewed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@moodtobestewed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moodtobestewed)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/5 "2003-10-10T18:29:32Z")
Bernard Herrmann’s music from the closing credits of movie “Taxi Driver” would be perfect I think. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/6 "2003-10-10T19:12:26Z")
It’s trumpet, not saxophone, but Miles Davis’s Elevator to the Scaffold/Ascenseur pour l’Echafaud soundtrack is archetypical noir music. “Harlem Nocturne” is a good choice … there are countless versions of this tune. (The All Music Guide lists some 271.) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/7 "2003-10-10T19:33:48Z")
One other choice that ought to fit in several ways would be _Laura_ from the soundtrack of _Bird_ which has Charlie Parker’s alto sax and a string ensemble playing the David Raksin tune that was the theme from a 1941 (or 42) noir that catches the mood as well as any theme music ever did. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/8 "2003-10-10T20:08:24Z")
There’s an album we’ve had for a number of years that I’m just now remembering and that should solve your problems! Check out [this review](http://www.epinions.com/content_27715800708) and see if you can locate the album. We have it on tape and it’s a favorite for traveling. The whole thing is just fine listening and ought to give you just the right tune for your show. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/9 "2003-10-11T02:49:55Z")
Lots of saxophone jazz. Maybe even a Tom Waits song here and there. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/10 "2003-10-11T03:27:52Z")
Or maybe just some solo zither music. Hey, it worked in **The Third Man**. Point being, noir will accomodate lots of musical stylings. You didn’t say if your noir production will be set at night, or not (“sunshine noir”, anyone?). If your play is pretty specific in its spoofing references, why not try using alternate versions of the original scores in question, or music that evokes those themes? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/11 "2003-10-11T03:43:09Z")
OK, had to come home and check my 78s . . . _Nightmare_, by Artie Shaw, is the film-noiriest recording _ever_. Fairly _exudes_ blood-red lipstick, seamed stockings, a smoking gun and a crushed cigarette. Easy to find on any Artie Shaw collection. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/12 "2003-10-11T03:44:28Z")
If it involves the Yakuza, you should throw in some weird flute music and taiko drums. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/13 "2003-10-11T03:47:59Z")
Oooh, here: you can listen to it [here](http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/mar/shaw/#hear)! Just click on the “Nightmare” icon. Is that hot or _what?_ ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/14 "2003-10-11T03:52:57Z")
Oooh, good call on the Tom Waits. I recommend “Romeo Is Bleeding” and “Going Out West.” For jazz, can’t go wrong with any sax-driven songs in minor keys. “Harlem Nocturne” works wonders to set the mood, as does Bernard Herrman’s Taxi Driver theme (as someone else mentioned). Some of those late-'90s suit-wearing swing bands had some great noir-inspired songs like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s “Cruel Spell” and Royal Crown Revue’s “Hey Pachuco” (and almost anything off their album Mugzy’s Move). Finally, Portishead is trip-hop, dead sexy, very “noir,” with female vocals that can make you melt with lust or cry with grief. Check them out, by all means. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/15 "2003-10-11T04:28:55Z")
See if you can find Jimmie Lunceford’s “Blues In The Night”. That’s the cliche song whenever someone parodies film noir. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/16 "2003-10-11T05:40:38Z")
You really have to break it down scene by scene. I don’t see swing as noir at all. I think of a simple trio with drum and bass accenting dialogue once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/17 "2003-10-11T05:42:42Z")
Try Mingus and Monk too. ---
**Author:** ![Sassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Sassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/18 "2003-10-11T05:51:50Z")
For quirky I recommend the [Aqua Velvets](http://www.aquavelvets.com/) - especially their _Guitar Noir._ ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/19 "2003-10-14T12:47:48Z")
Thanks to everyone! These are some awesome suggestions. If I can’t put together a decent soundtrack from this lot, it’s entirely my own fault. Thanks loads, Thwartme. ---
**Author:** ![Toleelumb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Toleelumb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toleelumb)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-good-music-for-film-noir/206661/20 "2011-05-29T22:19:16Z")
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