Amistad

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

A good Spielberg project can do miracles for those who star in it but surprisingly forgotten where Djimon Hounsou and Morgan Freeman as actors and John Williams as the composer on Amistad. Now in the case of the actors it probably was a sad misunderstanding but John Williams was not in first lead with Amistad. Not only because Seven Years in Tibet was better but also because there was one that knocked everyone of their podium and could only be stopped by a certain iceberg. Now looking after several years to the score of Amistad, it is obvious to say one thing makes this score special, the main theme 'Dry Your Tears, Afrika'. Not only repeated as we usually find at the begin and end as sort of a concert arrangement but also appearing in various forms, short in track 4 or long as in 11. Amistad may work completely as the accompanying score in the movie and Spielberg may surely see it as another masterpiece but most of Amistad's score can lullaby one into sleep, effective yet unsatisfying as music.

As stated and clearly the one thing that makes the album worth it is 'Dry Your Tears, Afrika' with a sensational performance during the begin and end credits. The African choir spices up the flair while Williams' score makes the rhythm work, it is one of those things that simply inspires from begin to end. Also spotted during that track is the brass work that reminds you of the jungle music of The Lost World. More native instruments are used during tracks 2, 3 and 5 but it is the fourth track that makes things better, 'Cinque's Theme' listens a lot like Seven Years in Tibet's more emotional moments and also has a very brief version of the main theme, it is one of the better moments of Williams on this score. Still, one thing that will make Williams' admirers crazy is Tim Morrison's trumpet solos, reminding one of JFK and Born of the Fourth of July, if even sometimes to Horner's Apollo 13, the solos are good but miss true magic. While extremely soft and inspiring, there is neither a moment of dazzling beauty as supreme class. In the end it falls short of such masterpieces as the main titles of JFK. Sad because I expected and hoped for something more then simply this.

So, is it this that makes Amistad lesser or just the coincidences of the movie at hand? While I expected things a bit darker, with the exceptions of 'July 4, 1839' and 'LA Amistad Remembered', the mood is pretty good but the lack of truly memorable material is surprising. In the end I didn't expect something that would make this CD flourish because that would truly feel inappropriate but still, its like listening to something that doesn't please as music material. The track 'Mr. Adams Takes the Case' explains it all at the end, we listen at something that might have come out of Saving Private Ryan and for 7 minutes nothing remotely interesting happens. So, people who kinda hated that score for its failed magical approach as background material will feel the same when they listen to Amistad. I tell you, it is far from being a bad score because this is still John Williams after all but neither the magic (shouldn't be found in such a genre) nor the power (which is completely unnecessary) is missing, making Amistad the subdued listen which does just fine during the movie but too less on disc to satisfy my needs.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Dry Your Tears, Afrika * (4.17) Excellent Track

2. Sierra Leone, 1839 / The Capture Of Cinque * (3.39)

3. Crossing The Atlantic * (3.21)

4. Cinque's Theme (4.12)

5. Cinque's Memories Of Home (2.34)

6. Middle Passage (5.18)

7. The Long Road To Justice (3.16)

8. July 4, 1839 (4.01)

9. Mr. Adams Takes The Case (7.15)

10. LA Amistad Remembered (5.08)

11. The Liberation Of Lomboko (4.09) Excellent Track

12. Adams Summation (2.55)

13. Going Home * (2.02)

14. Dry Your Tears, Afrika (Reprise) * (3.37) Excellent Track

* Mezzo Soprano: Pamela Dillard

Total Length: 55.53

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=== Link to Composer Site: John Williams ===