Es gibt immer wieder Lieder, da wundert man sich, dass sie nicht zu Riesenhits geworden sind. Eines davon: “Someone To Fall Back On” von Musiktheaterkomponist (”Songs For A New World”, “Parade”, “The Last Five Years”, “13″), Dirigent, Arrangeur, Texter, Sänger und Pianist Jason Robert Brown.
2005 veröffentlichte Brown bei Sh-K-Boom Records seine Solo-Debüt-CD “Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes”, ein Album, das bei Amazon.com als eines von 10 “Editors’ Picks in Broadway and Vocal Albums for 2005″ von sich reden machte und mit einer furiosen Vielfalt von Musikstilen beeindruckt, sei es nun Rock, Gospel, Funk oder Jazz.
Jason Robert Brown hat sämtliche Arrangements für seine CD selbst erarbeitet, er hat sie orchestriert, komponiert und er singt sie auch - und begleitet sich zum Teil selbst am Piano.
“Someone To Fall Back On” wurde innerhalb der Musicalwelt Amerikas von diversen Kollegen Browns gecovert, merkwürdigerweise ist es im deutschsprachigen Raum nach wie vor so gut wie unbekannt. Das jedoch könnte sich eventuell ändern, denn wie Brown in seinem Weblog mitteilt:
I’m delighted to announce that my song, “Someone To Fall Back On,” is heavily featured in the new movie Bandslam, co-written and directed by Todd Graff. I haven’t gotten a chance to see the movie yet, but the reviews are pretty friggin’ awesome, and you can pick up Aly Michalka’s very cool rendition of my song right now on iTunes. It’s really exciting that my song is finding a new audience, and even better that it’s in an actually GOOD movie.
Vielleicht also erlebt es Jason Robert Brown bald, wie einer seiner Songs auf dem Umweg über eine Filmkomödie zu guten Chartsplatzierungen kommt, ein Film, den man vielleicht treffend so beschreiben könnte: “Teens singing their hearts out.”
“Bandslam” läuft unter den Stichworten “Musik, Drama, Komödie”, wird sicher als eine Art Filmmusical etikettiert werden, David Bowie absolviert einen Kurzauftritt, das Ganze kann man als Starvehikel für Vanessa Hudgens betrachten, und doch, vielleicht ist es ja auch genau so, wie ein Fan es im Folgenden beschreibt:
Bandslam is such a genuinely endearing, funny, clever great teen flick that has just been so wrongly advertised. The talented Gaelan Connell stars as Will Burton a young man whom moves from Cincinatti to New Jersey. His mom gets a new job and he’s glad to leave his loner lifestyle behind because of a shady past and hopefully make a new start. Once there he meets a shy, emotionless girl named Sa5m the five is silent which is kinda dumb. And Charlotte Banks played by Aly Michalka whose looking for a band manager. the whole plot line is centered around this competition Bandslam. Kind of like a battle of the bands where the winner gets a record contract. This film is so unpredictable and feels so genuine. It has the feel of a film by the late great John Hughes. It’s a very cool movie about very cool misunderstood kids. Ignore the Disney casting session the film has depth. The performances aren’t all perfect but they feel real and the great bits outnumber the awkward ones by far. Connell is so endearing as Will Burton. He’s a real dork at first. And just a movie dork. He’s a little odd looking, a loner and not in a cool way and is way bad with being social. But by the end you will love him and think he’s a very cool guy. His love of music alone is enough to set him apart. the film sports surprising knowledge of the Velvet Underground, the birth of punk at CBGBs, The Ramones and even an cameo by David Bowie himself. Lisa Kudrow is surprisingly great as Will’s mother. She shows a great range of depth, emotion and comedic timing. Hudgens is less successful as Sa5m but has some truly endearing moments and has great chemistry with Connell and Michalka is even less successful as Charlotte but when her characters storyline takes a surprising turn so does her performance. The film is just really great much along the lines of last years surprise Nick and Norah’s infinite playlist. the film is smart, funny and genuine. A new classic for this generation. Too bad not many will see it just as no one really showed up for Charlie Bartlett, Nick and Nora or the girl next door. The film is really solid the surprise of the summer you should definitely check it out. [IMDB.com]
Im deutschsprachigen Raum startet “Bandslam” Ende November in den Kinos (Concorde Filmverleih).