CD REVIEW - ME & ORSON WELLES


Me & Orson Welles
Music by Various Artists
DECCA 5323762 (EU)
17 Tracks 56:54 mins

The new film from Richard Linklater recounts the meeting of 17-year-old Richard Samuels (played by High School Musical's Zac Efron) and the young director Orson Welles (played remarkably by Christian McKay) in 1937, when the former applies for the role of Lucius in Broadway's first Shakespearan production, Julius Caesar.
The soundtrack album, released today, is a collection of numbers featured in the movie, with originals, featuring the likes of Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, County Basie, Ginger Rogers, The Mills Brothers, Fred Astaire and Tommy Dorsey; and new songs by Jools Holland, featuring vocals by Eddi Reader (incidentally, both make cameo appearances in the film).
The film's composer, Michael J. McEvoy, also has a couple of tracks on the album (not underscore, but new source cues, written in the style of the period); and there are a couple of bonus tracks by James Langton & his Solid Senders.
A nice collection of nostalgia, if that's your bag.