Jazz became the music most associated with film noir. The key movie was The Wild One, starring Marlon Brando who personified the noir hero, or anti-hero. He was looking for trouble, any trouble. Great jazz figures were drawn to the noir form, and there was a noir style of music. West Coast trumpeter Shorty Rogers had 4 tunes in Leith Stevens great score. Great jazz stars Bud Shank, Jimmy Giuffre, Shelley Manne and the great Henry Mancini followed. The TV show Peter Gunn soon followed and kept great jazz musicians working. Jazz became the sound of the hard-boiled detective and the noir film. Of course, the writings of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Ernest Hemingway predated the films and TV shows.
About the presenterFrank Anthony Salamone
Frank Salamone is an Emeritus Professor at Iona College. He lives in Maryland. He is an anthropologist and has published many books and articles as well as presenting papers at international and national conferences. He is an avid jazz fan and has written on jazz many times.