Film composer Stephen Edwards (Cool Dog, Feast, Ninja) pays homage to the film music that has moved and inspired him.

When I received this album for review my first thoughts weren't overly positive. The last thing the world needs, I thought, is yet another movie theme compilation. And even though the angle here is that these are stripped down themes arranged for piano, I was still wondering why on earth this would appeal to anyone.

However, after several listens, I have to admit that this is quite a well compiled collection. The tracks are all ones that have inspired Edwards over the years, so for him this is a very personal collection. However, like most compilations, he does seem to have gone for the obvious tracks from most of the films he's chosen. And in the one instance where he has chosen the best, but not necessarily the most well known track (The Shawshank Redemption's 'Brooks Was Here') he's also included the well known 'New Fish').

I also couldn't help feeling that I was stuck in a dodgy movie wine/piano bar. It's an odd collection of tracks, but I enjoyed this compilation better than I expected to.

Tracks include:

1 - To Kill a Mockingbird 'Main Title' - Elmer Bernstein
2 - Cleopatra 'Antony and Cleopatra’s Love' - Alex North
3 - Being There 'The Room Upstairs' - Johnny Mandel
4 - Being There 'Goodbye Louise' - Johnny Mandel
5 - Diva 'Sentimental Walk' - Vladimir Cosma
6 - Sophie’s Choice 'Main Title' - Marvin Hamlisch
7 - Once Upon a Time in America - 'Main Title' - Ennio Morricone
8 - Betty Blue 'le Petit Nicholas' - Gabriel Yared
9 - Cinema Paradiso 'Medley' - Ennio Morricone/Andrea Morricone
10 - Field of Dreams 'Night Mists' - James Horner
11 - Cousins 'Main Title' - Angelo Badalamenti
12 - Shawshank Redemption 'New Fish" - Thomas Newman
13 - Shawshank Redemption 'Brooks Was Here' - Thomas Newman
14 - Sabrina 'Main Title' - John Williams
15 - Titanic 'The Portrait' - James Horner
16 - The Legend of 1900 'Playing Love' - Ennio Morricone
17 - A.I. Artificial Intelligence 'The Reunion' - John Williams
18 - Munich 'End Credits' - John Williams
19 - Little Children '2 Hillcrest' - Thomas Newman
20 - The Mechanic 'Eb Piano Trio' - Franz Schubert arr. Stephen Edwards

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Darren Rea