LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ CineMedia Promotions) Lakeshore Records will release the HOUDINI - Original Television
Soundtrack Volumes 1 and 2 digitally on August 26th and on CD
September 30, 2014. The album features original music by
John Debney (Sin City, The
Passion Of The Christ).
"I would best describe the HOUDINI score as Industrial Rock meets Gypsy rooted mystery," said Debney. "Uli Edel gave Houdini such a stylish and über-contemporary look. His attention to detail was impeccable and high spirit of creativity was infectious!"
Academy Award-nominated
John Debney seemed destined for a career in Hollywood. The son of Disney Studios producer Louis Debney (Zorro, The Mickey Mouse Club), Debney grew up in nearby Glendale, where he began guitar lessons at age six and played in rock bands in college. After college, he entered into the business with the help of television composing legend Mike Post (The Rockford Files, Law And Order). Debney furthered his hands-on training by working with Hanna-Barbera composer Hoyt Curtin. He began scoring television projects as diverse as Star Trek: The Next Generation, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and Sea Quest DSV, for which he won an Emmy for Best Main Title. In 1993 he secured his first studio feature film, the Disney comedy Hocus Pocus starring Bette Midler.
Although Debney had built an industry reputation as a talented film composer, with films as The Princess Diaries 1&2 , Raising Helen, Spy Kids 1&2, Elf, and Bruce Almighty, it was in 2004 that the rest of the world discovered him. Blending symphonic orchestra, a wide range of world instruments and the beauty of the human voice, Debney's landmark score for The
Passion Of The Christ would earn him an Academy Award nomination, a Gold record and a Dove award.
John Debney continues to receive accolades for his outstanding work. Last year, he received a Prime Time Emmy nomination for his work on the miniseries Hatfields And Mccoys. In 2005, he became the youngest recipient of ASCAP's prestigious
Henry Mancini Lifetime Achievement Award. Debney has again broken new ground composing for the videogames Lair (2007) and The Sims Medieval (2011). His Lair music was nominated for a BAFTA and he was awarded Best Videogame Score by The International Film
Music Critics Association. John Debney's recent accomplishments include scoring the Steve Jobs biopic Jobs. His recent projects include Draft Day and Walk Of Shame, both feature soundtracks on Lakeshore Records.
The two-night scripted miniseries HOUDINI follows the epic tales of Harry Houdini as he emerges as America's first bonafide world-renowned superstar. From humble beginnings at circus sideshows to sold-out concert halls, Eastern European immigrant Erich Weiss rose to become a household name across the globe-Houdini. Academy Award® winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist) stars as The Great Harry Houdini as he finds fame, engages in espionage, battles spiritualists and encounters the greatest names of the era, from U.S. presidents to Arthur Conan Doyle and Rasputin. A thrilling ride throughout Harry's psyche, HOUDINI delves deep behind the curtain into his life through his stunts, his visions and his mastery of illusion. Joining Brody is Kristen Connolly (House of Cards, The Cabin the Woods) as Bess Houdini, the love of Harry's life and right hand when it came to some of his most amazing feats, and Evan Jones (A Million Ways to Die in the West, The Book of Eli, Gangster Squad) as Jim Collins, Harry's assistant and confidant.
"All if the score is in the main electronic, with the addition of a solo gypsy violin and cello. Lots of Zither and other stringed instruments were also used," explained Debney. "Early discussions on tone centered around the idea of giving Houdini a very edgy and contemporary sound while always grounding the music with period splashes of style."
History presents HOUDINI - a special two-night event airing Monday,
September 1 and Tuesday,
September 2 at 9/8C. The HOUDINI - Original Television
Soundtrack Volumes 1& 2 will be available digitally on August 26th and on CD
September 30, 2014.
