CD REVIEWS - Two More from Alan Williams


The Jennie Project
Music by Alan Williams
Silverscreen SMCD 012
15 Tracks 45:49 mins

The first of two older releases covered here tonight, I have no idea what this 2001 film is about but, judging by the cover, I would say the Jennie of the title is a chimpanzee and, I imagine, the subject of some kind of intelligence experiment.
Anyway, to the music, and there is a charming main theme, some delicate and sad moments, with nice piano and flute work in particular; mixed with some exciting and more lighthearted jungle rhythms, even quite funky and rocky at times. The penultimate track, Rescuing Jennie runs the gamut, from exciting action to triumph then tragedy, before ending warmly; with the final cue resolving things happily with an African song and drum-backed main theme on flute.


Dead Sea Scrolls
Music by Alan Williams
Silverscreen SMCD 007
16 tracks 28:37 mins

The fact that this is a score for a documentary probably accounts for the short running time of this disc, and also for the use of synths in place of real strings. There are however live musicians, principally Joe Stone on English horn and recorders and vocalist Kathie Talbot, with the main thematic material, largely based on two themes, the first, mysterious Middle-Eastern-styled , and designed to transport the listener back to ancient times; the second, gently propulsive and percussive, subtly propelling the investigations into the scrolls. The only real drawback is the synths, but Williams uses them in such a way that they don't really outstay their welcome.

Again, two very different scores from Alan Williams and again if you go to his website at http://www.alanwilliams.com, you can sample his many other varied scores.