Spike knows the score
July 23, 2003
By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
Shelton Lee always had a
bit of an edge. When his schoolteacher mother began calling him Spike,
even he realized the nickname fit him to a T.
"I was always a little different,"
Lee says, laughing. "I don't think I knew it as a kid, but it wasn't a
bad thing. I grew up in a wonderful environment
filled with love, knowledge and lots of jazz."
His father is the jazz musician
Bill Lee, who scored all of Lee's films until he started collaborating
with Terence Blanchard 12 years ago. Their
first project together was the critically acclaimed "Jungle Fever."
Like Lee's dad, Blanchard
almost intuitively understands what Lee is trying to get across in his
films without being told, the director says.
"We work together," says
Lee, 46. "It's not like I write the film and then tell Terence to write
some good music to accompany it. That's not how we do it. Music is such
a lyrical, important component of filmmaking that I tell Terence about
my story ideas as soon as I have an idea. He sees an early
draft of the script and the dailies when we're shooting. He's involved
in everything from the beginning.
"I do know there are some
directors who bring composers in at the very last minute and that works
very well for them. But that's not our style."
Phoning from Los Angeles,
where he's filming a two-hour Showtime pilot called "Sucker Free City"--about
San Francisco's Chinese and
African-American gangs--Lee says he's excited about returning to Symphony
Center in Chicago Saturday for his multimedia show "The Movie Music of
Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard."
The production will feature
guest vocalists Gerald Levert, Mavis Staples and Bilal. As snippets of
Lee's films are shown, the music from movies such as "Do the Right Thing,"
"Malcolm X" and "Mo' Better Blues" will be re-created by the singers and
a five-man band led by Blanchard.
"I've always felt that Terence's
scores and my films hold up on their own as their own entities," Lee says.
"It just seemed like this was a nice time to
put together this concert. It's something different from what people
are used to and I like that."
Lee's onstage appearance
during this tour is minimal. He begins the show with a verbal exchange
with Blanchard about how they make films. Lee returns two hours later to
take his bow.
"I don't think anyone needs
to see or hear me longer than that," he says. "I know Chicago wouldn't
want that, 'cause I might have to pick on the Bulls."
Even as he talks euphorically
about Chicago's architectural beauty, Lee can't resist getting in that
dig.
"I love Chicago, but we've
had our differences between the Knicks and the Bulls," says Lee, who's
almost as famous for his obsession with the New York basketball team as
he is his films. "I like that your city still roots for the Bulls even
though they stink now. But hey, you've got to root for your
team. That's only right."
At 5-foot-5, Lee was never
a contender on the basketball court. And though he has a great ear for
music, he admits he's incapable of translating what he hears into reality
without the help of someone like Blanchard.
"Having been brought up
in a jazz household, I understand certain elements of music, which I think
is helpful when working with any musician," Lee
says. "I wish I had the talent to do what Terence [or my father] does.
They make it seem too easy. But it's the team you've built around you that
makes
the film successful."
Born and reared in Atlanta,
Lee graduated from Morehouse College before continuing his studies at New
York University, where Lee is a master teacher of film. He also lectures
at Harvard.
You'd think such a smart
man wouldn't utter ill-advised things, but he has occasionally gotten into
hot water over his comments. After the Colombine
rampage, he suggested that National Rifle Association president Charlton
Heston should be shot. Though Lee later apologized, he suffered the wrath
of
the still-feisty actor, who challenged Lee to carry out his threat.
Lee also recently settled
his lawsuit with Viacom, which had wanted to change its TNN cable network
name to Spike TV. Lee wanted no affiliation
with the men-centric network.
"I can't talk about the
lawsuit, but I try to let people know that I have no affiliation with that
channel at all--None!" he says.
Ironically, Viacom owns
Showtime, the channel for which he's shooting his latest project.
"What can I say," he says,
laughing. "It's a weird business I work in."
How the right composer can make a movie sing
Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard
have made beautiful music together for the past dozen years. They're not
alone. More directors are teaming with the same composers to create sounds
that are as recognizable as their filmmaking styles.
We talked to a couple of
composers who shared their thoughts on why the end project is better when
they work with someone familiar.
Time to 'move on' for Spike
July 9, 2003
By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
The lawsuit between Viacom
and director Spike Lee may be settled, but that doesn't mean the filmmaker
is happy. He told GLARE Tuesday, "I think that when people settle, no one's
happy because it's a compromise. But we'll all move on. I would like to
state that I have no affiliation whatsoever with Spike TV--never did and
never will."
The settlement, terms of
which were undisclosed, clears the way for the TNN cable channel to change
its name to Spike TV, as originally planned for June 16. Lee had claimed
in his suit that even TNN president Albie Hecht said people associated
"Spike" with him.
"It's settled, but I can't
really comment on it at the time," Lee said. "But one day I will."
Ironically, Lee's next project
is a pilot for Showtime, which is owned by Viacom. "Sucker Free City" deals
with Chinese and African-American gangs in San Francisco.
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