James Newton Howard is regarded as one of the premiere film composers in the industry with 5 Oscar Nominations, 3 Golden Globe Nominations, 3 Grammy nominations and an Emmy award in addition to over 100 film scores completed. He uses an array of computers and virtual instruments to help him accomplish his musical wonders.
Newton Howard says, “I’ve been using Spectrasonics instruments since they first came out and I love them. For pads, Atmosphere is often the first synth I turn to and nothing beats the variety of bass sounds in Trilogy.”
His latest score is for the George Clooney thriller “Michael Clayton”… But there’s always a long story behind getting to the top.
James Newton Howard grew up going to the movies and listening to the scores throughout the 1960s and 1970s; he cites film composer influences such as Henry Mancini, Alex North, Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, and Johnny Mandel. He studied piano at an early age, and attended the USC School of Music focusing on piano performance. His interest in popular music drew him away from his classical leanings. By 1973 he owned an Ionic monophonic synthesizer and an ARP 2600, and played in several bands.
He went on to join Elton John’s band, where he had a chance to arrange for orchestra on Elton’s album Blue Moves. Then began a decades-long immersion with a host of other top acts as a session keyboardist, arranger, songwriter and producer: Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson, Diana Ross, The Pointer Sisters, Barbra Streisand, Earth, Wind & Fire, TOTO, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Eric Clapton and many others.
After connecting with Jerry Goldsmith on Twilight Zone: The Movie in 1983, he became interested in composing for film and by 1985 moved in the direction of film scoring exclusively. After several successful projects, he got his big break with Pretty Woman and received the BMI Film Music Award for his score.
Partial view of the James Newton Howard studio setup (photo by:Emile Brinkman)
The astonishing list of classic movies and popular hits that he has scored includes:Batman Begins, Signs, Blood Diamond, Collateral, The Lookout, King Kong, The Fugitive, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Primal Fear, The Interpreter, French Kiss, The Sixth Sense, The Devil’s Advocate, Snow Falling on Cedars, Dave, Falling Down, Glenngary Glen Ross, and many, many others. Currently, besides the “Michael Clayton” movie, he has several other films opening soon: I Am Legend, Charlie Wilson’s War and The Great Debaters and the recently completed Waterhorse which is due out Christmas 2007.
In 2000, after releasing more than 70 movie scores, James Newton Howard received the prestigious Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement from ASCAP. Seven years later, his composing credits now include over 100 film scores.
Visit the “Michael Clayton” movie website
See James Newton Howard credits at IMDB (Internet Movie Database)
