''Shoe String Symphonettes'' is a 1997 album of

film music A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wait ...

released on

Tzadik Records Tzadik Records is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a n ...

Recording

The album contains soundtracks for five short films; the earliest being ''Landlord Blues'' directed by Jacob Burkardt (1987), followed by ''Death by Unnatural Causes'' directed by Karen Bellone and Lisa Rinzler (1991); one track for ''Summer Salt'' directed By Charles Levi (1993); Ribot's music for the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

'' Aelita Queen of Mars'' directed by

Yakov Protazanov Yakov Alexandrovich Protazanov (russian: Яков Александрович Протазанов; 4 February ( O.S. 23 January ) 1881 – 8 August 1945) was a Russian and Soviet film director and screenwriter, and one of the founding fathers of ...

(1928) was a mixture of live recordings from the 1995

Meltdown Festival Meltdown is an annual festival held in London, featuring a mix of music, art, performance and film. Meltdown is held in June at Southbank Centre, the arts complex covering and including the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The ...

mixed with backing tracks recorded in London and a live recording from

The Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United States. The Knitting Factory gave its audience poetry readings, perform ...

; and ''Pieces from an Incomplete Project'' directed by

Joe Brewster Joe Brewster, M.D. is an American psychiatrist and filmmaker who directs and produces fiction films, documentaries and new media focused on the experiences of communities of color. Education A native of South Central Los Angeles South Los Angel ...

(1996). Ribot stated "A lot of what I wrote was source music. In films, you write the score, but there’s also source music. For example, if a scene takes place in a disco and the filmmaker doesn’t want to shell out for rights to a disco hit, you write some disco. “Montuno” is a salsa tune. Jacob Burkhardt, the director, needed something that established a backyard on the Lower East Side. ... I gave it to the producer, J.D. Foster, to sequence, but I’m happy with the way he did it. I think it made the record as a whole more listenable. “Aelita” is pretty rough going; I chopped up the score into three suites. I don’t mind mixing things up in that way. It’s like making a salad, things rub off on each other".Krasnow, D
Marc Ribot Interview

Bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

, accessed November 25, 2019

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

awarded the album 3 stars with reviewer Sean Cooper stating, "''Symphonettes'' features some of Ribot's most compelling work to date, both creatively augmenting the originals and sketching out cinematic spaces more or less autonomous from the films they were inspired by".Cooper, S
Allmusic Review
accessed August 4, 2011.

Track listing

All compositions are by Marc Ribot except where noted. #"Looks Like Hell" – 2:17 #"Hitman" – 2:07 #"Aelita Suite I: Martian/Lost in Space/More Martians/Harping and Burning/Prepare for Landing" – 6:46 #"Montuno" – 3:28 #"Bells" (

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. After early experience playing R&B and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Howev ...

) – 1:07 #"Aelita Suite II: Martian Telescope/Men of Science" – 3:05 #"Before the Prison Riot" – 3:28 #"You Kill Him" – 5:01 #"Surf's Down" – 1:27 #"Paul's There" – 2:22 #"Did You?" – 2:05 #"Aelita Suite III: A Message from Mars/Martian Battle/Avante Popolo" – 6:54 #"End Credits (Landlord Blues)" – 2:12 #"End Credits (Death By Unnatural Causes)" – 2:54 *Tracks 1, 5 and 14 were recorded at Bear Track, New York City for the short film ''Death By Unnatural Causes'' (1991). *Tracks 2, 4 and 13 were recorded at Studio Crisp, New York City for the film ''Landlord Blues''. *Tracks 3, 6 and 12 were recorded live at the

, Royal Festival Hall, London in 1995 and used in the film ''Aelita, Queen of Mars''. The end of track 12 was recorded live at the

Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United States. The Knitting Factory gave its audience poetry readings, perform ...

, New York City. *Tracks 7, 8, 10 and 11 were recorded at Studio 900, New York City in 1996 for the film ''Pieces from an Incomplete Project''. *Track 9 was recorded at Splash Studios, New York City in 1993 for the film ''Summer Salt''.

Personnel

– guitars, sampler, trumpet, banjo, E-flat horn *

Greg Cohen Greg Cohen (born July 13, 1953) is an American jazz bassist who has been a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet and worked with numerous other noted musicians for over four decades. Career Cohen plays traditional jazz and other styles, includi ...

(1, 14) – bass *Jill Jaffe (1, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14) – violin, viola * Brad Jones (2, 4, 13) – bass *

Bill Ware Bill Ware III born William Anthony Ware III (b. January 28, 1959, East Orange, New Jersey) is an American jazz vibraphonist. Musical career Ware played bass and piano early in his career, playing at the Harlem Jazzmobile. After spending several ...

(2, 4, 13) – vibraphone *

Curtis Fowlkes Curtis Fowlkes (born March 19, 1950) is an American jazz trombonist and singer. He is a founding member of The Jazz Passengers. Career In 1987, Fowlkes started The Jazz Passengers with saxophonist Roy Nathanson. He has also been a member of The ...

(2, 4, 13) – trombone *Jim Nolet (2, 4, 13) – violin *

Roy Nathanson Roy Jay Nathanson (born May 17, 1951) is an American saxophonist, composer, bandleader, actor and teacher. He became the leader and principal composer of the Jazz Passengers, a six piece group that he founded with Curtis Fowlkes in 1987. They have ...

(2, 4, 13) – saxophone *E.J. Rodriguez (2, 4, 13) – drums, percussion *Gregory Ribot (2, 4, 13) – flute *Paul Clarvis (3, 6, 12) – drums, percussion *

Dave Maric Dave Maric (born 12 June 1970) is a British composer and musician. Biography Born in Bedford, England to Greek and Bosnian Serb immigrants, he moved to London in 1988 where he studied at City University. During the 1990s he regularly perform ...

(3, 6, 12) – keyboards *Phil Boyden (3, 6, 12) – violin *Helen Thomas (3, 6, 12) – cello *Mike Kearsey (3, 6, 12) – trombone *

Anthony Coleman Anthony Coleman (born August 30, 1955) is an avant-garde jazz pianist. During the 1980s and 1990s he worked with John Zorn on '' Cobra'', ''Kristallnacht'', ''The Big Gundown'', ''Archery'', and ''Spillane'' and helped push modern Jewish music in ...

(12b) – organ *

Ikue Mori (born 17 December 1953), also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, electronic musician, composer, and graphic designer. Mori was awarded a "Genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation in 2022. Biography Ikue Mori was born and raised in Japan. She sa ...

(12b) – percussion *Jim Staley (12b) – trombone * Dave Douglas (7, 8, 10, 11) – trumpet *Vicki Bodner (7, 8, 10, 11) – oboe *Charlie Giordano (7, 8, 10, 11) – piano, keyboards *Mauro Refosco (7, 8, 10, 11) – percussion *Maxine Neuman (7, 8, 10, 11) – cello * Tony Garnier (7, 8, 10, 11) – bass *

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

(9) – saxophone *Andy Haas (9) – saxophone *

Cyro Baptista Cyro Baptista (born December 23, 1950) is a Brazilian percussionist in jazz and world music. He creates many of the percussion instruments he plays. Career Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Baptista arrived in the U.S. in 1980 with a scholarship to C ...

(9) – drums

References

{{Authority control Marc Ribot albums 1997 soundtrack albums Film soundtracks Tzadik Records soundtracks 1997 compilation albums Tzadik Records compilation albums Soundtrack compilation albums