HIS PEOPLE
Paul Shapiro was commissioned by the Museum of Jewish Heritage to compose a new score for the 1925 silent. It has since been performed at the Krakow Jewish Culture Festival, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, The Eldridge Street Synagogue and numerous other venues.
THE WATERMELON WOMAN
Paul Shapiro wrote the score for The Watermelon Woman, a 1996 feature film by filmmaker Cheryl Dunye about Cheryl, a young black lesbian working a day job in a video store while trying to make a film about a black actress from the 1930s known for playing the stereotypical "mammy" roles relegated to black actresses during the period.
This film just recently was honored with the Cinema Eye Legacy Award
IT HAPPENED IN HAVANA
It Happened in Havana: A Yiddish Love Story
a film by Judy Schiller
original score by Paul Shapiro
ithappenedinhavana.com
MORE ABOUT HIS PEOPLE
To arrange public performance screenings or purchase DVDS of His People contact: The National Center for Jewish Film
Brandeis University
Paul Shapiro
Jazz artist says writing music for a '20s film set in New York's Lower East Side was 'one of the most challenging and satisfying things'
Delfin Vigil San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday, July 19, 2007
When the Museum of Jewish Heritage asked Paul Shapiro to write a score for an old silent film, the New York jazz saxophonist looked no farther than the other side of his front door for inspiration.
"I'm a real sap for emotional, family-type stories. To get to create music for that kind of a movie that was filmed 80 years ago in the very same neighborhood I live in was an incredible opportunity," says Shapiro, 51, of "His People," a 1925 black-and-white silent film shot in New York's Lower East Side.
Shapiro and his sextet will perform the score in front of a screening of "His People" tonight at the Castro as part of the opening-night ceremony for the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, and then again on Saturday.
Directed by Edward Sloman, "His People" is a 91-minute time capsule featuring a poor Russian Jewish family struggling to fit into a small neighborhood in the big city. While the father peddles from a pushcart for a living, his two boys are torn between Old World traditions and New World temptations.
Studious brother Morris hides his heritage to move up the social ladder, while ne'er-do-well bro Sammy takes a stab at becoming a prizefighter and -- gasp -- falls in love with an Irish gal.
It was complicated stuff for the times, and even more challenging for a 21st century musician to write a score attempting to capture the essence of images originally meant to be accompanied by silence.
"It was easily one of the most challenging and satisfying things I've ever done," says Shapiro, whose career includes work with Lou Reed, Shudder to Think, Queen Latifah and Jay-Z. "I sat at the piano day after day with the film in front of me and waited for things to come and reveal the story."
Shapiro eventually emerged with a nearly 60-page-long score with songs structured for every second of the film.
"It's not improvisation. I know what's happening in every minute of that film. The cats in the band do too," says Shapiro, whose drummer particularly likes synchronizing with the boxing scenes.
During the writing, Shapiro referenced songs he remembered from his childhood synagogue days, playing the religious melodies on saxophone. He also aimed for a "pre-1955" sound.
"I love the world when sax was king," he says. "The music is not going to sound like klezmer, but it is definitely going to have a sonority of pre-electric guitar and pre-synthesizers."
The lineup for the shows includes acoustic piano, acoustic bass, an old drum kit, cello, muted trumpets, sax, flute and clarinet.
Shapiro has a simple tip for those wondering if they should pay more attention to the music or the movie: "Just relax and drink it all in."
Music
Paul Shapiro provides the musical accompaniment to Edward Sloman’s groundbreaking 1925 film “His People.”
by George Robinson
Special To The Jewish Week
The Sounds Of Silents: “His People” with Live Accompaniment
When I watched a DVD screener of the restored print of Edward Sloman’s groundbreaking 1925 melodrama “His People” prior to its re-emergence (courtesy of the National Center for Jewish Film) at this year’s New York Jewish Film Festival, I had the disadvantage of seeing the film without any music. Make no mistake, the term “silent film” is a misnomer; most films made before the coming of talkies were meant to have a musical score, preferably performed live.
Given that “His People” is a story of a Jewish family divided by questions of ethnic pride and assimilation, what could be more appropriate than to have a new score for the film written and performed by a self-identified Jewish musician, and given the film’s setting on the streets of New York, why not pick a jazz artist to get that flavor of the city’s bustle?
The musician chosen, Paul Shapiro, is as talented as they come, both a fine sax player and a deft writer.
“I was commissioned by the Museum of Jewish Heritage to write the score for their Silent Film/Live Music series in 2004,” Shapiro recalls. “I had a choice of films to pick from and this was my favorite.”
Shapiro, whose album “Midnight Minyan” is one of the best meldings of jazz and Jewish themes in recent years, had actually written a film score before, for the 1996 independent feature “Watermelon Woman.” But scoring a silent film is a very different experience, he readily admits.
“With a contemporary film you have cues to write for: 30 seconds, two minutes, etc.,” he explains. “Often the music has to stay out of the way of dialogue. But with a silent, we are playing continuously for 90 minutes. It’s a challenge, but also fun to be able to go full throttle without having to worry about getting in the way of other sound sources, like dialogue, sound effects or other music.”
Then there is the little matter of performing the score live while the film is unspooling for an audience, a problem that sound films don’t have.
“I think the hardest part is trying to keep the various pieces in line with the film as it moves along in real time,” Shapiro says. “Sometimes when we play pieces over time we might play them a touch faster than before, then we end up finishing too soon. Other times I might try to hold back a tempo, and then we aren’t finished in time, and have to jump ahead to the next section. But we are getting better and better at this aspect the more we play with the film.”
All in all, “His People” is a rare chance to experience the almost lost art of live accompaniment.
“His People” will be presented with live accompaniment by Paul Shapiro and his sextet on March 1at 8 p.m. at the Abrons Arts Center at the Henry Street Settlement (466 Grand St.) For information, call (212) 598-0400 or go to www.abronsartscenter.org.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
‘HIS PEOPLE’ (Sunday) Children today are used to films being loud — sometimes very loud. But this movie, made in 1925, presents its story silently, showing the efforts of a family of Russian Jews to make a new life as immigrants on the Lower East Side. But though the film has no sound, the screening will have a soundtrack: Paul Shapiro, the jazz musician, has composed a score, and his sextet will play live as Old World meets New. At 3 p.m., the Museum at Eldridge Street, Eldridge Street Synagogue, 12 Eldridge Street, between Canal and Division Streets, Lower East Side, (212) 219-0888, eldridgestreet.org.; $10; $5 for 62+, students and 18 and under.
MOTION PICTURE and FILM RESUME
“Lou Reed’s Berlin” A film by Julian Schnabel. On screen performance, saxophone and flute.
"The Watermelon Woman" Directed by Cheryl Dunye. Original score by Paul Shapiro.
"MTV RAW" 0:55 for tv Directed by David LeChapelle. Score written and produced by Paul Shapiro.
“Wet Hot American Summer” Directed by David Wain. Music by Theodore Shapiro and Craig Wedren. Saxophone.
“Prime” Directed by Ben Younger, featuring Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep. Tenor Saxophone and horn arrangements.
"Faithful" Directed by Paul Mazursky. Original score by Phillip Johnston. Tenor sax feature
“First Love, Last Rites” Directed by Jesse Peretz Soundtrack by Shudder To Think. Saxophone.
“The Prince of Central Park” Directed by John Leekley, Produced by Steven Seagal
On screen performance and saxophone feature on sound track
“Lisa Picard is Famous” Directed by Griffin Dunne, Produced by Mira Sorvino and Dolly Hall
“Mambo con Dancehall”, co-written by Paul Shapiro is featured in film
“Party Girl” “Big Apple Boogaloo” by Brooklyn Funk Essentials featured in soundtrack
"Joey Breaker" Directed by Steven Starr. Original score by Paul Aston. A capella tenor feature.
"Money Man" Directed by Philip Haas. Original score by Phillip Johnston
"Geld" Directed by Dorris Dorrie. Original score by Phillip Johnston
"Committed" Directed by Lyn Tillman and Sheila McLaughlin.
Original score by Phillip Johnston
COMPOSITION FOR THEATRE
"The Sun Gets Blue...A Jazzical" Book by William Electric Black Score by Paul Shapiro
"Billy Stars ands Kid Jupiter" Book by William Electric Black Score by Paul Shapiro
"Presque Isle" Book by Joyce Carol Oates Score by Paul Shapiro
"Scapin" Score by Paul Shapiro