It is truly unfortunate that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has disqualified Branford Marsalis’ riveting original score for the Netflix feature adaptation of the August Wilson play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
AMPAS’ current rule is that a movie’s music needs to be comprised of 60% of original score, and apparently this feature love letter to 1920s jazz and blues falls under that quota.
Marsalis’ fingerprints are all over the movie from arranging the jazz standards to providing a big note to Viola Davis (scroll down to listen).Not only does Marsalis create some toe-tapping rhythms here, but he soulfully props the grave monologues about the African American experience with some nuanced musical touches; a craftsmanship in the
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