Andalucia Steve

...living the dream

The Music from Siesta

Often overlooked masterpeice soundtrack from a now forgotten movie

I was really into Miles Davies and Marcus Miller. The whole Tutu thing and the way those two worked together really did it for me. So when it was announced they were collaborating on a movie soundtrack I was excited to go and see the film. Directed by Mary Lambert and released in 1987, Siesta was just awful. It started with the main character, awaking scantily dressed at the end of an airport runway, and then there is a sequence of flashbacks as she tries to figure out how she got there. The audience realy didn't give a stuff and the film was mainly unwatchable. I know this because I tried and failed to rewatch it recently.

However bad the film was, the soundtrack was excellent, and has matured with age, despite the 80's electronics dating the work in places. I didn't realise until I researched this piece today that the acoustic guitar was played by John Scofield, with Earl Klugh filling in on classical guitar. Apparently this was a low budget project delivered in a hurry, but Miller delivered some haunting melody and often draws on harmony from Miles' Sketches of Spain. With Davies blowing eerie Spanish themes over the top, this has to be the best soundtrack from a bad movie ever: