Happy Birthday, Andy Summers!

On New Year's Eve, Thursday, December 31, 2020, Andy Summers – my favorite guitarist and musician of all time – turns 78 years old.

I first became acquainted with the music of Summers in 1983 at the age of 10 in a Catholic elementary school classroom when I heard a hypnotic and futuristic-sounding pop/rock song emanating from the radio of Candy, my substitute teacher. When I asked what the song was and who recorded it, I was promptly informed that it was “Spirits in the Material World” by The Police. I was instantly hooked, so much so that that Christmas, my parents got me a vinyl copy of Synchronicity, The Police’s fifth and final studio album and one of the biggest hits of the year. The Police have since remained my favorite rock band of all time.

Summers was the guitarist for the mega-popular group, who were active in the late 1970s and early 1980s and reunited for a 30th anniversary tour in 2007 and 2008. Being a good decade older than his bandmates Sting and Stewart Copeland, Summers began his professional recording career in the early 1960s, playing for Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band (which later became the psychedelic but short-lived Dantalian’s Chariot), Eric Burdon’s New Animals, and Soft Machine. After formally studying guitar at Northridge University in California from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, Summers returned to England and plied his trade as a session guitarist for Joan Armatrading, Neil Sedaka, Kevin Coyne, and Deep Purple’s Jon Lord before achieving monumental success and international stardom with The Police.

After the dissolution of The Police in the early 1980s, Summers scored some Hollywood films (Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Weekend at Bernie’s) and recorded one rock vocal album before establishing himself as an acclaimed and accomplished contemporary instrumental guitarist across a variety of styles, including jazz, fusion, new age, and world music.

I was privileged to interview Summers by telephone in Fall 2000 for the January 2001 issue of DirecTV: The Guide. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that Summers posted a notice of the interview in the news section of his Web site. Later, I met Summers in person during his book tour in Fall 2006, just a few months before The Police reunited for a 30th anniversary reunion tour, which I was fortunate to attend twice in August of 2007 and 2008.

For a good overview of Summers’ solo work, I highly recommend the following albums: Mysterious Barricades, A Windham Hill Retrospective, Synaesthesia, and The X Tracks. My personal favorite Summers albums are XYZ, Mysterious Barricades, The Golden Wire, Charming Snakes, World Gone Strange, Synaesthesia, Earth + Sky, Fundamental (with Fernanda Takai), Circus Hero (with his rock band Circa Zero), and Triboluminescence.

--Raj Manoharan

Happy Birthday, Michael Nesmith!

On Wednesday, December 30, 2020, The Monkees' Michael Nesmith (the one with the green wool hat) turns 78 years old.

Of all of The Monkees, Nesmith has had the most prolific and successful solo career. He pioneered the country-rock music format in the early to mid-1970s, founded the music and video label Pacific Arts, and basically created the concept of MTV. In addition to producing films and music videos, Nesmith also won the very first Grammy Award for Best Home Video for Elephant Parts, which later led to NBC’s short-lived Television Parts. In an interesting side note, Nesmith’s mother invented liquid paper and sold it to Gillette for a substantial fortune, which Nesmith inherited.

For a good overview of Nesmith’s music, I recommend The Older Stuff, The Newer Stuff, Tropical Campfire’s, Live at the Britt Festival, Rays, Movies of the Mind, Infinite Tuesday: Autobiographical Riffs -- The Music, and Live at the Troubadour.

More information about Nesmith is available on his Web site at www.videoranch.com.

--Raj Manoharan

David Prowse (1935 - 2020)

Star Wars has been a major part of not only American and world popular culture, but also my personal and professional life, for the last 43 years.

My first movie memory is seeing Star Wars literally under the stars at a drive-in movie theater during its original release in 1977, when I was four years old.

Later, I found myself in the presence of Darth Vader himself, or at least the iconic voice of the fearful Dark Lord of the Sith, when James Earl Jones, along with Joe DiMaggio, spoke at my NYU commencement ceremony in 1994. Thank the Force that I graduated one year ahead of my class!

Only three years after that, I interviewed Darth Vader's son, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), on the phone for my first freelance article, which was published in Starlog, an iconic global science-fiction entertainment magazine that I had grown up reading as a teenager and young adult.

While James Earl Jones is synonymous with Darth Vader for his menacing and metallic baritone intonation, it was the seven-foot-tall British stuntman and actor David Prowse who brought the black armor-clad villain to life. Prowse's less than adequate vocal prowess necessitated the overdubbing of Jones, but it was Prowse's towering figure and commanding stage presence that made a visual impact on the big screen.

Body language is a big part of acting, and in that context, nobody wore that heavy suit quite like Prowse, not even Hayden Christensen, who played Vader's former self, fallen Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, in the prequel trilogy. Prowse's physical gesticulations and movements defined Vader's imposing and intimidating villainy.

Prowse's finest acting scenes occur in the exchange between Vader and Luke on the forest moon of Endor, in their duel in front of Emperor Palpatine, and just before the dying and redeemed Vader's mask comes off, in the original trilogy's finale, Return of the Jedi. Prowse aptly and deftly communicated Vader's confusion, regret, concern for his son, and his ultimate rapprochement with his son, all without the benefit of his face or even his own voice. That is quite the thespian accomplishment.

May the Force be with you, your family, your friends, and your fans, Lord Prowse.

--Raj Manoharan

Sean Connery (1930 - 2020)

Sean Connery was the first big-screen James Bond, perhaps the most memorable, and definitely the only Bond actor to evade the stigma of typecasting and forge a cinematic career and identity all his own, far beyond the confines of Ian Fleming's famed British secret agent.

In addition to his high-profile Academy Award-winning role in The Untouchables, Connery built an impressive filmography that includes Robin and Marian, Outland, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Hunt for Red October, First Knight, The Rock, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Also, when you watch him in any of his post-Bond roles, you are watching and thinking Sean Connery, not James Bond. Even when you go back and watch his Bond films, you are watching and thinking Sean Connery, not James Bond.

The name was Connery, Sean Connery, and he both shook and stirred films and film fans around the world alike.

--Raj Manoharan

Eddie Van Halen (1955 - 2020)

I was never a fan of the band Van Halen, but being among the first generation of MTV viewers, I grew up watching and enjoying their outlandish and flamboyant music videos, especially during the tenure of their first lead singer, David Lee Roth.

As a casual admirer, I definitely enjoyed their songs – particularly “Jump” – and the guitar artistry and wizardry of Eddie Van Halen. His guest solo on Michael Jackson's “Beat It!” was and is perfection.

I wish EVH recorded and released instrumental solo albums, because I would have definitely bought them. Unlike the rest of the “shredders” out there, he had a keen sense of composition and melody, providing tasteful and accessible context for his fretboard pyrotechnics.

I will also always be grateful to EVH for “discovering” one of my favorite guitarists, new age jazz/rock fusion impresario Allan Holdsworth, who was nine years EVH's senior.

EVH was one of the last generation of true guitar heroes. No guitarist has emerged in the last twenty to thirty years that matches the iconic status and achievements of the prominent guitarists of the 1960s through the 1980s.

Eddie Van Halen was and will always remain a giant in the pantheon of six-string slingers.

--Raj Manoharan

Chadwick Boseman (1976 - 2020)

As a lifelong fan of Star Trek, Star Wars, and superheroes, I am deeply crestfallen by the shocking news of the death of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman from colon cancer at the age of 43.

But while remiss at this tremendous loss of a gifted, rising young actor who already accomplished so much and had a positively bright future ahead of him, both in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and beyond, I am very encouraged by the outpouring of tributes to him from his colleagues, peers, fans, and admirers. It is a powerful testament to the impact he had and will continue to have on minority children and adults for decades to come.

Although he had served as an inspiring role model by portraying real-life African-American pioneers such as Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson, R&B singer James Brown, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, it is his turn as the fictional Marvel superhero Black Panther, in his own movie as well as several other Marvel films, that continues to be a source of pride and aspiration for people of color in America and around the world.

One small way to honor the memory of Chadwick Boseman is to listen to the Grammy and Academy Award-winning Black Panther soundtrack, one of the best superhero and general motion picture scores of all time. The potent and formidable musical themes of cultural heritage and pride, heroism, virtue, and strength of character not only beautifully and wonderfully elevate the world of King T'Challa/Black Panther, but also and especially serve as a fitting celebration of the real-life man who played him.

--Raj Manoharan

Black Panther Original Score (2018), by Ludwig Goransson

In Honor and Memory of Chadwick Boseman (1976 - 2020)

Black Panther is one of the absolute best Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and certainly the most unique, and its corresponding soundtrack is definitely the best of the bunch.

Ludwig Goransson has created music that is every bit as remarkable as the movie it underscores, especially in its visceral, life-affirming revelry of African sounds and rhythms.

Based on his personal, firsthand research into and study of African musical traditions, Goransson structured his compositions around indigenous vocals, tribal chants, and exotic ethnic instruments, especially drums and percussion (Police drummer Stewart Copeland employed a similar process for his groundbreaking 1985 Afro-pop/rock album The Rhythmatist).

The result is an incredible, epic work of Afrocentric world music fused with hip techno and electronica and rousing, soaring symphony orchestra.

"Wakanda," "Warrior Falls," and the last four tracks of the album are excellent, perfectly capturing the film’s interwoven themes of family, honor, and heroism.

The Black Panther score is not only the cream of the crop of Marvel and superhero movie soundtracks, but it also ranks among the most memorable film music of all time.

--Raj Manoharan

Non-Secure Connection (2020), by Bruce Hornsby

In the quickest follow-up of his career, coming only a year after his critically acclaimed and esoteric album, Absolute Zero, Bruce Hornsby continues the eclectic explorations of that offering and goes off in even more tangents, ultimately yielding another winner in his long repertoire.

Non-Secure Connection securely affirms Hornsby as one of our era’s most unique and wide-ranging veteran musical artists. The album is equal parts orchestral, electronic, organic, cinematic, funk, and impressionistic, with Hornsby expressing himself more expansively on vocals – still resoundingly vibrant at 66 – and piano, as well as electric sitar and Chamberlin.

The varied sounds come to life thanks to the contributions of a diverse lineup of guest performers, including Jamila Woods, Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, and Justin Vernon.

The album is captivating from start to finish, with standouts including “The Rat King,” “My Resolve” (a duet with Jason Mercer), and “Anything Can Happen” (featuring the late Leon Russell thanks to a demo from the mid-1990s). The exhilarating closing track, “No Limits,” sounds like Hornsby’s take on The Police’s classic album title track “Synchronicity,” complete with hi-hat and chorused guitar, and is one of Hornsby’s best songs overall.

--Raj Manoharan

10 Years of RajMan Reviews (2010 - 2020)

This month marks the 10^th anniversary of RajMan Reviews.

I want to thank all those who have appreciated, encouraged, and supported my content both here and on Amazon over the years, as well as all the artists whose work I used to review on an “official” basis, beginning with Michael Stribling and including many who were nominated for and won independent awards as well as Grammy Awards.

I also want to thank everyone who has rated and continues to rate my reviews on Amazon as helpful.

I will forever remain indebted to Steven H. Scheuer and John N. Goudas for enabling me to write about film, television, and music in the first place and also for not having any preconceived notions about me, especially considering my interest in American pop culture and writing about it. Their memory and spirit will be with me always.

Thank you.

--Raj Manoharan

Happy Birthday, Eric Johnson!

On Monday, August 17, 2020, one of my favorite guitarists, Eric Johnson, will turn 66 years old.

I was first introduced to the music of Johnson in 1990 by an employee at a local cable television station I interned at during my senior year of high school. That was the year Johnson, then 35/36 years old, released his breakthrough second album, Ah Via Musicom, which achieved the distinction of having three instrumental songs reach the American Top Ten.

Every one of Johnson's albums showcases his incredible electric guitar wizardry and his soft-spoken heartfelt vocals. His latest album is EJ Vol. II.

--Raj Manoharan

Allan Holdsworth (August 6, 1946 - April 15, 2017)

This month marks what would have been Allan Holdsworth's 74th birthday.

The late, great guitar master was born on August 6, 1946, in England and passed away at the age of 70 on April 15, 2017, in Southern California, where he had lived for over three decades.

I first heard of Holdsworth in the early 1990s when I read some reviews that described the instrumental albums of my favorite musician, Police guitarist Andy Summers, as partly Holdsworthian.

I began to read more about the legendary Holdsworth, finally buying my first album of his, Hard Hat Area, upon its release in 1994. I still remember eagerly and excitedly purchasing the CD at a record store in Greenwich Village.

I continued to buy Holdsworth's albums throughout the 1990s, culminating with the 2000 release of The Sixteen Men of Tain. Holdsworth put out one more solo album, Flat Tire: Music for a Non-Existent Movie, in 2001, which I never got around to getting back then for one reason or another, and then Holdsworth went silent, save for the occasional guest appearance on other musicians' albums, as well as live performances and collaborative recordings.

I also lost touch with Holdsworth's happenings for nearly two decades, until April 15, 2017, when I read on Yahoo! News to my shock, disbelief, and dismay that Holdsworth had passed at 70 years of age. Heartbroken at both his loss and my obliviousness to his life for the previous 16 years, I immediately purchased his 12-CD box set, The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever!, and his 2-CD compilation, Eidolon, both released a week prior to his passing, and spent much of the next year immersed in the guitar and synthaxe brilliance of Allan Holdsworth.

In honor and remembrance of this amazing and unparalleled musical icon, I highly recommend the following albums as my top four picks, reviews of which can be found both on this site and on Amazon: With a Heart in My Song (with pianist Gordon Beck, 1988), Hard Hat Area (1994), The Sixteen Men of Tain (2000), and Then! (2003).

--Raj Manoharan

Allan Holdsworth Playlists

Wednesday, April 15, 2020, marks three years since the world lost pioneering fusion guitar legend Allan Holdsworth. He was 70 years old. In honor of the late great musician, I share my personal playlists culled from his immense works and arranged by theme.

Endomorph (Songs Featuring Various Singers)

The Things You See * White Line * Was There? * Material Real * Metal Fatigue * Panic Station * In the Mystery * Secrets * Endomorph * Against the Clock

Mr. Berwell in the Mystery (Best Overall Including Instrumentals and Vocal Songs)

Three Sheets to the Wind * Metal Fatigue * Panic Station * In the Mystery * The Dominant Plague * Atavachron * Looking Glass * Mr. Berwell * Endomorph * Prelude

No Zones (Then! Live Album without “Zones” Improvisations)

Proto-Cosmos * White Line * Atavachron * Pud Wud * House of Mirrors * Non-Brewed Condiment * Funnels

The Un-Merry Go Round (New Age)

The Un-Merry Go Round * Distance vs. Desire * The Un-Merry Go Round (Part 4) * The Un-Merry Go Round (Part 5) * Prelude * Above and Below * Above and Below (Reprise) * Material Unreal * Curves * Don’t You Know

Tokyo Dream I (Hard Fusion)

Three Sheets to the Wind * Tokyo Dream * Non-Brewed Condiment * The Dominant Plague * Atavachron * Looking Glass * Mr. Berwell * City Nights * Peril Premonition * Hard Hat Area

Tokyo Dream II (Soft Fusion)

Home * Funnels * Joshua * Sphere of Innocence * Zarabeth * Questions * Tokyo Dream * The Un-Merry Go Round (Part 4) * The Un-Merry Go Round (Part 5) * Prelude

--Raj Manoharan

Sonoran Odyssey (2020), by Paul Speer

(CD/digital pre-orders available at www.paulspeer.com. Available digitally April 10, 2020.)

Seven years after unleashing the fiery Ax Inferno, guitar master Paul Speer returns with Sonoran Odyssey, which is one of his best albums ever.

Inspired by Speer’s recent relocation to the southern Arizona desert, Sonoran Odyssey is aptly named, for not only is it a musical odyssey of the American Southwest, but it is something of a space odyssey as well.

The track titles are straightforward in terms of conveying the inspirations for and the mood of the pieces, for example, “Sunrise,” “Moonrise,” and “Monsoon.”

“Sunrise” provides a fitting start to the proceedings, a sonic dawn, as it were, to the epic, sweeping guitar/synth opus that follows.

The album includes four versions of “Moonrise” (the full mix, a demo featuring NASA’s audio recordings of Neptune, a guitar mix, and an ambient mix) and two versions of “Monsoon,” one with thunder and rain and one without.

All of the versions of “Moonrise” perfectly capture the beauty and mystique of the celestial Southwestern night sky, and both takes of “Monsoon” are great representations of the sound and fury of nature.

Bonus tunes include a guitar-driven remake of Speer and David Lanz’s worldwide 1985 new age hit, “Behind the Waterfall,” which proudly stands alongside the original in terms of quality, impact, and pure bliss; the enigmatic “Venus Rising” with Sherry Finzer on flute; and “Jupiter Via NASA,” which is layered around NASA’s audio recordings of Jupiter.

Throughout the album, Speer lays down palpable grooves on bass and ethereal textures on keyboards, over which he weaves clean tones and captivating lead lines on electric guitar.

Max Saidi’s driving drums help propel the rumbling rhythms of “Monsoon,” while Ron Krasinski provides a solid, unrelenting backbeat to “Behind the Waterfall.”

Similar in feel to earlier Speer releases including Hell’s Canyon, Oculus, and Wonders, Sonoran Odyssey is an intriguing excursion into cosmic fusion that is both satisfyingly cathartic and spiritually evocative.

--Raj Manoharan

Kenny Rogers (1938-2020)

Not Roy Rogers.

Not Fred Rogers.

Kenny Rogers.

--Raj Manoharan

EJ Vol. II (2020), by Eric Johnson

What a difference ten years can make – in both time and age.

In 2010, then-55-year-old Eric Johnson released Up Close, his most frenetic and frenzied electric guitar record to date, so much so that he only sang lead vocals on a couple of tracks and served as accompanying or background vocalist on a few others, with most of the tunes sung by guest performers.

In the ensuing decade, Johnson released more albums than he ever had before – a live recording of a European tour, a duet album with jazz guitarist Mike Stern, an acoustic piano/acoustic guitar pop vocal set (to which this is the apparent sequel), and a return-to-form electric guitar pop rock album (although much more restrained than Up Close).

Now, in 2020, the 65-year-old Johnson returns with EJ Vol. II, which, like its eponymous predecessor, focuses on acoustic piano and acoustic guitar songs, but this time with tasteful touches of his trademark electric guitar flourishes. It is not so much a continuation of any one particular style as it is an expansion and progression of Johnson’s musical development.

The remarkable aspect of the new album is how far Johnson has come as an artist since Up Close. Up until then, Johnson was primarily a highly technically skilled guitar hero and virtuoso.

In recent years, however, Johnson has been focusing more on mastering the crafts of songwriting and singing, and he has been getting very good at both of those pursuits. In fact, the vocal songs – especially “Waterwheel,” “Divane,” “Hotel Ole,” “Different Folks,” and “Golden Way” – are more enjoyable than the instrumentals. That is not to say that the instrumentals are not good – they are.

In terms of singing, Johnson’s voice is something to behold, especially at this stage of his career. He sounds much younger than people who are half his age. You would not realize he is a senior citizen just by listening to him.

As good a singer/songwriter as he is, Johnson still works his magic on those six electric strings. However, his playing is much more refreshingly and enjoyably relaxed and refined now.

This is definitely one of Johnson’s finest albums, right up there with 1996’s Venus Isle, with which it shares a luminescent sonic palette and a spirit of transcendental meaningfulness.

To me, the title signifies not so much a follow-up to a particular album as it does the next phase of Johnson’s maturation as a singer and musician.

--Raj Manoharan

2020: The Year of the Guitar

Only three months in, 2020 is already shaping up to be a fantastic year for guitar albums.

Pat Metheny started things off auspiciously on February 21 with his first new release in six years, From This Place.

Then, on March 6, Eric Johnson debuted his latest album, EJ Vol. II.

Next, both Joe Satriani’s Shapeshifting and Paul Speer’s Sonoran Odyssey, his first album in seven years, come out April 10.

With all this great guitar music in just the first four months of 2020, one can only hope that the legendary Andy Summers has something in the pipeline this year as well.

It would also be nice to see more unreleased material from the late, great Allan Holdsworth, and maybe, finally, the eventual completion of his final, unfinished original studio album.

--Raj Manoharan

Lyle Mays (1953-2020)

Just after having posted my review of Pat Metheny's latest album, I was shocked and disheartened to learn that Lyle Mays, Metheny's keyboardist in the Pat Metheny Group (PMG) from the 1970s to the 2000s, had passed away earlier this month at the age of 66.

Mays was instrumental to the sound of PMG with his lush, orchestral textures, in addition to his traditional jazz piano playing. Critics and fans alike had considered Metheny and Mays a songwriting duo as important and influential as that of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

I was fortunate to see Mays live in concert with PMG twice, first at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the early 1990s, and then again at the Beacon Theatre in New York City in the early 2000s.

In recent years, Mays had retired from music and was working in computer software management.

For a while, I had been planning to post a playlist of my ten favorite PMG songs to celebrate the release of Metheny's latest album. I now offer it in tribute and dedicate it to the memory of Lyle Mays.

The Search * James * Chris * Last Train Home * Slip Away * Facing West * Rain River * Here to Stay * Follow Me * Wherever You Go

--Raj Manoharan

From This Place (2020), by Pat Metheny

One of guitar’s golden boys is back with his first album of all-new material in six years, and it was definitely worth the wait.

Having become a senior citizen the year previous and turning 66 in summer 2020 – which the sentimental track “Sixty-Six” most likely references – Pat Metheny is indeed a golden boy.

However, make no mistake. His performing talent and compositional brilliance are nowhere near retirement, as evidenced in this welcome mix of his styles both old and new.

The entire album is ambitious and cinematic in its orchestral scope, with Metheny’s core band – bassist Linda May Han Oh, pianist Gwilym Simcock, and longtime Metheny drummer Antonio Sanchez – augmented by the lush sounds of the Hollywood Studio Symphony, conducted by Joel McNeely.

Guest performers include Luis Conte on percussion, Gregoire Maret on harmonica, and Meshell Ndegeocello, who sings the politically and socially charged title track, which is not only very much from this place, but also very much from this time.

Longtime fans will take a special liking to the Pat Metheny Group-reminiscent “Same River,” with Metheny breaking out that classic sitar-like sound as well as that awesome, unmistakable guitar synthesizer.

Other standout tracks include the epic and formidable “America Undefined,” “Wide and Far” (the best and most distinctive guitar melody and the most classic Metheny-like tune on the album), the haunting “You Are,” and the reflective “Sixty-Six.”

If you have been off the Pat Metheny path for a while, like me, this is the perfect opportunity to return to the fold.

--Raj Manoharan

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), by John Williams

It is fortunate that John Williams was able to compose and conduct the score for the final installment of the nine-part Skywalker saga, completing a musical endeavor that he first undertook for the original 1977 film, now known as Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.

As a result, the nine soundtracks stand together as an epic, self-contained body of work spanning 42 years. Williams perhaps may be the only film composer who has made music for that many movies in a franchise, all of them focusing on a core group or family of characters, as well as several Star Wars video games. The only other Hollywood composer who comes close is the late Jerry Goldsmith, who scored five Star Trek movies and wrote the main theme for three Star Trek television series.

Incidentally, Williams is also one of only two major creative talents to be involved in all nine episodes of the Skywalker saga, the other being Anthony Daniels, who has played C-3PO in every one of the main movies (as well as a cameo in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and other guest spots).

Just as Star Wars: Episode IX: – The Rise of Skywalker is an entertaining and enjoyable wrap-up of a nine-part storyline, its soundtrack is just as fitting a musical coda for the entire saga, with a lot of welcome callbacks to iconic themes from the original trilogy.

For example, because of the resurrected presence of Ian McDiarmid’s legendary, villainous Emperor Palpatine, the Imperial March makes a triumphant return, along with Palpatine’s appropriately dark and sinister throne room motif.

Williams has also come up with a new episodic theme, bearing the film’s title, The Rise of Skywalker, that is moving and poignant, with a sense of wistful reflection and a view to a hopeful new future.

And for a first (and possibly the last) in a Star Wars score, the opening arrangement of the main title theme, along with the fanfare, appears near the conclusion of the end credits, perhaps signifying the final curtain call, at least for the beloved original trilogy characters.

In what is most likely his final Star Wars soundtrack, John Williams offers up one of the series’ best musical entries, right up there with A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens.

--Raj Manoharan

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), by John Williams

There is one thing you can count on regarding a Star Wars score by John Williams – while the soundtracks may vary in quality like the films themselves, they are still heads and shoulders above the majority of original motion picture music.

Such is the case with the music for Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. Once again, the octogenarian composer and conductor turns in an exhilarating and majestic score, replete with the blaring fanfare, main theme, sweeping new motifs, and the all-encompassing finale.

The only exception this time around is a new episodic theme that is not as compelling or as intriguing as the ones for the original trilogy and Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. This could be because Williams, like any artist, is only as good as the material or muse that inspires him. As enjoyable and entertaining a Star Wars entry as The Last Jedi is, it does take some weird and wacky turns and has a clunky midsection, especially involving the casino gambling world of Canto Bight.

This has happened before in the Star Wars franchise, particularly in the case of the much-maligned prequel trilogy. Not all of it was terrible, but a lot of it was pedestrian and uninspired, and even Williams’ brilliance could not elevate the material. In other words, Williams was as unimpressed as the rest of us, and it shows in those musical scores.

The good news here is that regardless, the music of The Last Jedi is far superior to that of the prequel trilogy and is one of John Williams’ better works. Like the film itself, it is a worthwhile entry in the series.

--Raj Manoharan

Robert Conrad (1935-2020)

Robert Conrad was the star of the classic 1960s television series, The Wild, Wild West, in which he played James T. West, a Secret Service agent working for President Ulysses S. Grant.

I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing Conrad by telephone in 1995 when he was promoting his new show at the time, High Sierra Search and Rescue.

He had also just turned 60 years old that year, and he said to me, “I'm 6-O and on the go.” Later that week, I saw him repeat that exact same phrase on Live with Regis and Kathy Lee. That was pretty cool.

He also starred in Stephen J. Cannell's late 1970s/early 1980s TV series, Baa Baa Black Sheep (aka Black Sheep Squadron) and appeared alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad in the 1993 Christmas comedy, Jingle All the Way.

Conrad was 84 years old at the time of his passing.

--Raj Manoharan