Words by Amon Warmann
If nothing else, HBO’s Perry Mason is not lacking when it comes to authenticity. The new series follows the titular private investigator as he unravels the case of a mysterious child kidnapping, and from the stylish period costumes to the gorgeous and painstakingly recreated set décor, everything we see accurately evokes 1932 Los Angeles.
That also goes for everything we hear. The original compositions by Terence Blanchard – best known for his frequent collaborations with Spike Lee – are perfect for the era in which the show takes place. In many ways it feels like a natural fit between musician and material: the moody, jazzy notes that the show requires are right in Blanchard’s wheelhouse, and it’s no surprise when he tells Composer Magazine that this has “It's probably been the project I've had the most fun working on in a long time."
Key to that fun has been his collaboration with Perry Mason director Tim Van Patten, and Blanchard recalls how they immediately hit it off: “I wanted to do something that was based around the sonic content of jazz but bringing a different kind of viewpoint to it. I was a little nervous… but as soon as Tim heard it he fell in love with it. To his credit he called me up and told me how much he dug it which just kind of allowed me to relax into the whole idea of what it was we were going to do with the show”.
I wanted to do something that was based around the sonic content of jazz but bringing a different kind of viewpoint to it.
As Blanchard’s confidence grew, Perry Mason’s sound evolved. Straddling the balance between present day and homage, the composer now has a “dialogue of colours” that he refers to for each episode: “In terms of the storytelling process they put everything on the screen, so my job is basically just to enhance that and now we've come up with this panel that has just morphed into this thing that's become like a Perry Mason sound that I can't describe”.
Thankfully, that Perry Mason sound has plenty of room for the jazzy improvisation that is heard so often in Blanchard’s work. It’s a departure from the rigid underscore that you typically hear in a TV series and the freedom to “go crazy” was a pleasant surprise to Blanchard: “What's interesting about it is I work on a scene and get it down to where I think it's getting close and then all of a sudden there will be some other element and suddenly it's missing something and that's when I realised I may be missing the improvisation part of it”, he says. “That's just something that has come over the years with experience, you know?”
The end of Perry Mason’s opening episode is just the first of many instances in which Blanchard is allowed to cut loose. But the piece wasn’t always meant to be so energetic: “I had taken a more sombre approach. It seemed to be reflective and Tim came back to me and said “No man we want you to just go ahead and do your thing”. I was just working on episode 7 and he told me the same thing for the end credits. When do you hear that in television? Rarely. So working with these guys has been a real joy”.
Perry Mason is now streaming on HBO.