Although much of Trevor Jones' work has been for British made films, this is by no means exclusively so. His early career seems to have included some Python films and some from the Jim Henson stable. The presence of many Hollywood films from recent decades underlines his respect in the industry but it is refreshing to see he is still associated with the film industry in the UK. In addition to his substantial original output, Jones is also an accomplished arranger of other's music when required. A good example of his skills as an arranger is "Brassed Off", the movie with Pete Postlethwaite conducting a Colliery Brass Band. Jones arranged the music played by the band in the film, and supplied the contrasting additional material which tells the human story behind the musical ambitions. Jones apparently has so many credits in the movie that in true Pythonesque manner, he even gets a credit for "person with most credits".
One of Jones' most distinguished soundtracks is the one for "The Last of the Mohicans". Drums feature in this in a two-fold role, side-drums depict the background conflict between French and British forces in America, while heavier drums seem to signify the magnificent natural landscape and the culture of the native Indian tribes. Within this setting, the music deftly illustrates the role of Hawkeye who prefers the company of the natives, the love he shares with Cora, and the tragic death of Uncas which results in his father Chingachgook being the last member of his tribe. Due to post-production delays, Jones was not able to complete the full score for other commitments. Some additional cues were provided by Randy Edelman in the same style, but the main themes and thrust of the music is Jones' work.
Jones' name continues to be associated with a wide range of film genres, including "In the Name of the Father", "Cliffhanger", "Notting Hill", "Brassed Off" (which sports some great musical and acting performances), "Dark City", "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and "Around the World in 80 Days".
There's an interesting story behind one of Jones' earliest scores, for the film short "Black Angel". George Lucas commissioned Roger Christian to create a short movie to be released along with "The Empire Strikes Back" based on his story Black Angel. Christian duly did this and many people in the UK and elsewhere saw "Black Angel" along with the 2nd Star Wars film on its first theatrical release back in 1980. The film was a medieval fantasy shot in various locations across Scotland and scored by then up-and-coming composer Trevor Jones. Since the short had a similar setting, it influenced John Boorman when it came to "Excalibur" which was released the following year in 1981. And of course Trevor Jones was asked to score Excalibur too. The film negative was thought lost when Rank Film Laboratories was closed, but it turned up again in 2011. The film was restored and shown to acclaim at film festivals, and you can now see the complete short film Black Angel on youtube. This has an introduction by Roger Christian who is now in pre-production on a feature-length adaptation.
Here are some CD covers signed by Trevor Jones. Our thanks to Petr Kocanda for permission to use his collection of autographed CDs. Click on any thumbnail below to see the image full size in a separate window.
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