Donald Rubinstein: Martin

Jazz doesn't typically play a huge role in horror film soundtracks. Sure, there are exceptions. Jazz guitarist Joseph LoDuca scored Sam Raimi's adaptation of Stephen King's The Evil Dead. Giorgio Gaslini's collaboration with the prog-rock group Goblin on Dario Argento's Suspiria certainly has some jazz-related elements, as does the work of Krzysztof Komeda (Rosemary's Baby), Bruno Nicolai, Ennio Morricone, and other European film composers. Sleazy funk and warped psychedelia are plentiful in the genre. Take, for example, the soundtrack to Jesús Franco's Vampyros Lesbos by Manfred Hubler and Sigfried Schwab. But one would be hard-pressed to find any jazz content in horror film scores, especially the recent ones. That said, horror soundtracks are usually pretty inventive and strongly influenced by the work of classical experimentalists such as Iannis Xenakis and Edgard Varese, if not completely awash in blast beats and cheesy synthesizer washes. While one would be stretching things a bit to describe Donald Rubinstein's soundtrack to George A. Romero's 1977 slasher flick Martin as jazz, the music itself would be unthinkable without the contributions of now well-known jazz artists Marty Ehrlich, Hank Roberts, and Steve Gorn, whose improvisations are central to composer / pianist Rubinstein's attractively multi-faceted score. Open-minded listeners will find a lot to appreciate in the grooves of this vinyl-only reissue.

Rubinstein, who later performed and recorded with Bill Frisell, Ra-Kalam Bob Moses and other jazz artists, was then a 24 year-old self-described "music fanatic," in Boston studying piano and counterpoint with Madame Margaret Chaloff and Richard St. Clair. His brother Richard, a film producer, recommended him to director George Romero and the rest, as they say, is history. Rubinstein wrote and recorded the music almost simultaneously, pulling in his friends from Boston's always-fertile jazz scene. The result is closer, at times, to late 20th Century chamber music, though reed, flute and vibraphone improvisations by Hankus Netsky, Ehrlich, Gorn, and Paul Johnson figure prominently throughout. Rubinstein's own piano work has an off-the-cuff flavor to it, and his heavily-phased Fender piano conjures the spirit of contemporary jazz-rock stylings. Though divided into a plethora of cues, the music flows continuously throughout making it hard for the listener to determine which track is which. Disparate elements—jazz improvisation, operatic vocals, a string quartet, creepy soundscapes, and the sober main theme—appear and disappear quickly, demanding attentive listening.

Rubinstein's work proved to be first-rate, and Martin is universally recognized by horror film fans as one of the finest soundtracks in the genre. Rubinstein later collaborated with Romero on several film scores, including Knightriders, Bruiser and Romero's well-regarded television series Tales from the Darkside. His work on Martin stands as much more than an interesting footnote in the rather hermetic world of horror movie fandom. This is music that, unlike many movie soundtracks, rewards repeated listens.