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On the same day as ACT release an album of mostly cover versions of standards by Rigmor Gustafasson / radio.string.quartet.vienna Calling You, here’s some more unlikely goodness outta Sweden.

Regular readers with know we’re a bit more Michael Caine / Roy Budd (see Get Carter) even if last year Eastwood’s son, Kyle released his best album yet (see Metropolitain), but as Clint’s best movies are synonymous with the music as they are with his performances (especially as The Man With No Name), this is a must have of fans of either.

Oddjob formed in 2002 to rekindle the best of jazz-rock fusion which they spotted coincides with the prime of Eastwood’s cinematic brilliance in the late 60’s to mid 70s - although some of the tracks here are a bit more modern.

So its no surprise then that this CD kicks off with Morricone’s classic theme from Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western great ‘The Good, Bad And The Ugly’ but it is a bit surprising that it’s a bit of jazzed up ‘Trans Europe Express’ (yep, drum machine and all that - fantastically oddball and for mixtapers and techno DJs everywhere (now I could see a Carl Craig remix of the one, but what’s the point?)

‘Palancio’ has a touch of Miles meets Nucleus plus Lalo Schifrin’s ‘Bullit’ with Goran Kajfes’ trumpet (various versions) doing a cinematic Nils Petter Molvær (who was so good at QEH last week, see HERE). Another Schifrin track from the movie Magnum Force is the ‘Magnum Force Theme’ that features Per Johansson as he gets to show how cool his bass clarinet sounds that’s almost as moody as Amon Tobin plays In Bruges; one of the best on the CD.

Staying on the downtempo, ‘The Theme From Pale Rider’ is a dull jazz dirge that’s saved by a bit of pedal steel (that’s so cowboy!) performed by co-producer Johan Linstrom - but this isn’t fusion as I know it. For that, go to yet another Schifrin track ‘Robbery Suspect’ in all its post-Miles glory.

Back to the cowboy, ‘Musical Pocket Watch’ is one of the key moments in A Few Dollars More but again it’s left as a mere snippet and not extenuated as you’d have thought a jazz band would do. ‘Ecstasy of Gold’ from the same soundtrack wins out on the modal trip.

And there’s more as you’d think you would be back to the action with Where Eagles Dare, but at a mere one and a half minutes, its not long enough. And that’s followed by another Schifrin score (and like Where Eagles Dare, another 1968 movie from Clint), ‘Hang ‘Em High’. This one is ‘typical’ Eastwood movie with Tijuana horn and cowboy twang guitar but Oddjob miss the sterotype with the jazz groove.

I can’t say I’ve seen all of the films represented here. As Clint has done so many that’d be hard work in itself but thank goodness that they has the good sense to avoid ‘Play Misty For Me’ in any sort of form

Like a film, it’s a bit unfair to pick out highlights as best to view (or in this case listen) to the performance as a whole. Anyway, I have (as per Hectic Mix nominations below) but the best track is ‘Scorpio’s Theme’ from Dirty Harry that’s cinematic jazz rock’n’bass bizniz with electric guitar (a la Nils Petter Molvær again).

Love the near Lichtenstein pop art cover and whilst confining themselves to just Clint’s back catalogue, that’s a hefty body of work and they’ve cherry picked the best bits for Clint so it’s more the good than the bad and the ugly.

Hectic Mix nomination: ‘Magnum Force Theme’, ‘Scorpio’s Theme’, ‘Robbery Suspect’, ‘Ecstasy of Gold’, ‘The Good, Bad And The Ugly’

Reviewed: Oddjob - Clint (ACT Music) Cat. No. ACT 9494-2 Release date: 1st March 2010 Goran Kajfes (trumpets, percussion), Per “Rusktrask” Johansson (saxophone, clarinets, flute), Daniel Karlsson (piano, fender thodes, organs, synthesizers), Peter Forss (acoustic & electric bass, guitar), Janne Robertson (drums, percussion) + guest: Johan Lindstom (pedal steel guitar).
Tracklisting:
1. The Good, Bad And The Ugly (5:18) from the movie ‘The Good, Bad And The Ugly’ (Ennio Morricone, 1966)
2. Palancio (5:49) from the movie ‘Magnum Force’ (Lalo Schifrin, 1973)
3. Theme From Pale Rider (6:19) from the movie ‘Pale Rider’ (Lennie Niehaus, 1985)
4. Magnum Force Theme (6:06) from the movie ‘Magnum Force (Lalo Schifrin, 1973)
5. Where Eagles Dare (1:28) from the movie ‘Where Eagles Dare’ (Ron Goodwin, 1968)
6. Hang Them High (5:57) from the movie ‘Hang Them High’ (Lalo Schifrin, 1968)
7. Musical Pocket Watch (1:13) from the movie ‘A Few Dollars More’ (Ennio Morricone, 1965)
8. Robbery Suspect (3:50) from the movie ‘Sudden Impact’ (Lalo Schifrin, 1983)
9. The Mayor (5:27) from the movie ‘Dirty Harry’ (Ennio Morricone, 1971)
10. Ecstasy of Gold (4:17) from the movie ‘The Good, Bad And The Ugly’ (Ennio Morricone, 1966)
11. Scorpio’s Theme (7:09) from the movie ‘Dirty Harry’ (Ennio Morricone, 1971)
12. Let’s Do It (2:29) from the movie ‘Grace Is Gone’ (Clint Eastwood, 2007)

Links:
www.rigmorgustafsson.com
www.myspace.com/rigmorgustafsson
www.radiostringquartet.com
www.actmusic.com
Clint Eastwood made his directorial debut with this 1971 suspense/thriller Play Misty for Me (www.imdb.com) in which he also stars as Dave Garver, a late night radio DJ…
The Man With No Name (Italian: Uomo senza nome) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_with_No_Name