CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Catch Me If You Can

by: John Williams

Release Date December 10, 2002
The way people have been talking about this score, from the reviews to the liner notes, you'd think it was a stylistic counterpart to "Checkmate." In truth, there is minimal jazz or even pseudo-jazz content in this score. It is mostly orchestral with occasional jazzy touches, such as vibes or sax, but it's hardly a return to his days as Johnny Williams (as some have suggested). And the handful of tunes by the likes of Sinatra, Dusty, and Getz/Gilberto are readily available elsewhere in more appropriate settings. On its own terms, the score is certainly pleasant, but it's hardly a "jazz score" as defined by the likes of Mancini, Lalo Schifrin, Johnny Mandel, Kenyon Hopkins, and others.