It’s a pity you were not born in Latin America. Otherwise, you’d know how influential Lalo Schifrin was to a whole generation of electro funksters. But that’s hardly a problem, because you now have a chance to get acquainted with Schifrin’s music firsthand, as Aleph Records has announced the release of an extended edition of Lalo Schifrin’s score for 1973’s Enter the Dragon. A martial arts cinema classic, Enter the Dragon features Bruce Lee’s only English-speaking starring role and was co-written by Lee himself, who also choreographed most of the action scenes. Schifrin, already a seasoned film composer, supplied a score as hard-hitting and entertaining as the motion picture itself — and in this case, that’s saying quite something. Although Enter the Dragon’s score has never been a neglected work, it is now being released in a comprehensive form, on CD, featuring several tracks previously unavailable in any format.
Perhaps Bruce Lee’s best movie, Enter the Dragon certainly is the one that cemented his worldwide stardom. The film’s score did something similar for Schifrin, who, despite having a five-decade career scoring both cult and high-profile movies and TV shows (Mission: Impossible, Cool Hand Luke, Bullit, Che!, THX 1138, Dirty Harry, Class of 1984, The Amityvile Horror, etc.) and aside from moonlighting as a jazz musician and orchestra conductor, would not be surprised to find that Enter the Dragon is his most beloved work. Sure, this might be a result of extensive sampling from the hip-hop community, but also because the score lets Schrifin showcase the full range of his abilities. Moreover, Schifrin set out to do for kung fu movies what Morricone had done for Westerns, introducing “Oriental” flourishes without exoticizing them. Thus, we get pieces like “The big battle,” which evokes melodies using electric guitar microtonalities, the blood-curdling tension of “Broken mirror,” or the superb funk of the film’s main theme, which even manages to include a couple of kiais.
Born in Argentina to a family traditionally involved in the arts, Schifrin studied composition in Paris and made his name as a film composer and jazz pianist in the US, where he relocated to in the late 50s, invited by Dizzy Gillespie. He remains active to this day, combining jazz and orchestral work with film scoring.
Enter the Dragon: Extended Edition is out November 11 via Aleph Records.
Enter the Dragon: Extended Edition tracklisting:
01. Prologue - The First Fight 2:36
02. Main Titles 2:20
03. Su-Lin (The Monk) 4:56
04. Sampans and Flashbacks 6:19
05. Han’s Island 2:54
06. The Banquet 3:02
07. Headset Jazz 2:10
08. The Gentle Softness 2:40
09. Into The Night 3:43
10. Goodbye Oharra 1:54
11. Bamboo Birdcage 2:32
12. Han’s Cruelty 3:09
13. The Human Fly 3:34
14. The Big Battle 4:47
15. Broken Mirrors 5:54
16. End Titles 1:06
17. Theme From Enter The Dragon 2:23
18. Main Titles (Alternate) 3:17
• Lalo Schifrin: http://www.schifrin.com/
• Aleph Records: http://www.dougpayne.com/aleph.htm
More about: Bruce Lee, Lalo Schifrin
