The Stone Killer – Roy Budd

The Stone Killer, a 1975 Michael Winner film that starred Charles Bronson (the two did Death Wish together, too, with a killer score by Herbie Hancock), featured one of Roy Budd's most unabashedly funky jazz scores. Budd was himself a jazz pianist (self-taught) and whenever given the opportunity to work it into the movies, he did so. The fact that the Fender Rhodes was all the rage in 1974 when he was composing for this baby must have been his wet dream come true. Budd digs it and makes most of his cues funky, taut, and very tight. His more elegiac and romantic ones, such as "In the Shadows" and "In the Graveyard" use cool flutes, horns, and exotic percussion along with chamber strings and yes, even here the feeling and invention of jazz is everywhere. Budd also loved tabla drums and he dug the cheesy synths they had back then and used them to fine effect rather than syrupy schmaltz. Cues such as "SK 10" and "M5" push them to the moody wig city limit. The Stone Killer is another high point for Budd in a cinema scoring career filled with them. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide