Paris Blues (OST) (180G VINYL LP)

When it came out in 1961, Martin Ritt’s film Paris Blues was hailed as one of the best movies about jazz ever released. Its stars, Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier, were at the top of their game, but the real kick came courtesy of Duke Ellington s score and a cameo role for the man who was said to have invented jazz – Louis Armstrong. The American trade paper Variety acknowledged the importance of the soundtrack in its review: The film is notable for Duke Ellington s moody, stimulating jazz score. There are scenes when the drama itself actually takes a back seat to the music… Along the way there are several fully-fledged passages of superior Ellingtonia such as Mood Indigo and Sophisticated Lady, and Louis Armstrong is on hand for one flamboyant interlude of hot jazz.