Spies, Misdemeanors, And Other Musical Affairs: A Law Enforcement & Crime-Noir Jazz Soundtrack Playlist

It begins with the drums:

Lightly dusted, with an understated classic swing feel.

A walking bass line slithers its way around the beat, as if it’s creeping down a back alley.

A spidery flute line enters: the aural equivalent of a tail lurking in the shadows, just out of sight.

The low brass enters like a train approaching from the distance, with an ominous sounding variation of the familiar main theme.

More horns pile on. The beat starts pounding harder, with everything getting persistently louder. It then modulates up a key, causing the suspension to build, almost unbearably so, until:

POW! 

The whole thing blows up, and a glittery trumpet solo manages to dodge the shrapnel and rise up majestically, followed by a magnificent wailing trombone solo.

Not to be deterred, the perilous theme is back! It wastes no time becoming increasingly menacing, climbing higher and higher. With brass blaring at a deafening volume and drums furiously banging and crashing, we’re just on the edge of being completely overpowered…

…until it all spectacularly erupts once again. And this time, it’s final.

Only the original muted drums and bass survive the wreckage, slinking stealthily back into the dark of night.

That is a description of the aptly named “Fallout!,” from the soundtrack of Peter Gunn:

A late 50s/early 60s tv show about a suave private detective with expensive tastes and a love of cool jazz.

Henry Mancini’s score oozes opulence from every pore and perfectly captures the aesthetic:

So many of the movies and television shows that focused on spies, detectives, and crime from the late 50s to about the mid 70s had amazing soundtracks.

I must come clean: I have never been particularly drawn to such fare. But the music that accompanied them is an entirely different story.

• Sophisticated jazz, mostly in minor keys? 
• Intriguing instrumentation indicating that something sinister is afoot? 
• Surf-rock inspired beats complete with tremolo guitar lines? Even some funk-rock grooves

I’m in.

Some classic names in soundtrack composing and scoring were quite prolific in this era, and cranked out some exceptional music in service to the genre. It would simply be a shame to not luxuriate in this embarrassment of riches.

At the top of the heap, of course, is the James Bond theme.

Composed by Monty Norman and originally arranged by John Barry, it has appeared in some shape or form in every Bond film since Dr. No in 1962.

It’s the first thing that will come to mind for most people regarding music of this kind, not only because it continues to be used in the longest running spy franchise out there:

But because it totally rules.

The chromatic intro with its air of mystery, the iconic main theme, belted out by the brass, along with the rapid fire bottomed-out guitar line are all synonymous with espionage-related intrigue.

The final chord as heard on the John Barry Orchestra recording, the Em9(#7), is the stuff of legend,

I refer to it as the “James Bond chord” when I am working with other musicians, and they know exactly what I mean.

I’ve ended a church song on that minor-major 9 chord many times when it felt right, even though it’s never in the music.

Back in the 00s, when I was streaming on Rhapsody, I suddenly decided one day that I had to compile a playlist of spy/crime themed music for my own listening pleasure.

In 2020, I recreated it on Spotify and continued to add to it. There are defining sounds throughout that many will recognize

You’ve got your guitar lines in baritone register and saucy brass in spades.

You’ll also find glassy vibraphones, sultry saxophones, and foreboding flute lines – sometimes in a range so low that an alto flute must be employed.

(Be forewarned that the alto flute can and will seduce you to descend to depths from which you may never return.)

The harpsichord makes an appearance here and there, as it should. (Check out Roy Budd’s “Get Carter Theme“)

And what in the world is playing the melody on such themes as Mancini’s “Experiment in Terror,” and Barry’s “The Ipcress File” ? 

Woah.

It’s a Hungarian instrument by way of Asia, called a cimbalom (emphasis on the first syllable.)

It’s a large trapezoidal box with strings stretched across the top that are played like a hammered dulcimer. It looks like a medieval instrument of torture, and it scares me.

I could go on forever. So without further ado, let us begin our journey.

The seamy underbelly of humanity beckons:

And it has never sounded so glamorous.

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