3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Young Scottish jazz artist to score new Spike Lee film
Jazz pianist Fergus McCreadie said it was "absolutely crazy" to have contributed to the soundtrack for Spike Lee's latest film, Highest 2 Lowest, starring Denzel Washington.
The 28-year-old, who grew up in Dollar in Clackmannanshire, has previously been nominated for a Mercury Prize and won the Scottish Album of the Year Award in 2022.
Announcing the news, McCreadie said that Lee travelled to the Edinburgh Jazz Festival in 2024 to meet with him and the two other members which make up the Fergus McCreadie Trio, which he leads on piano.
Several months later, they met again during a "ridiculous trip" to New York where they recorded Stony Gate, an original song for the film which was then transformed into an orchestral arrangement for a number of scenes.
McCreadie also recorded a number of other cues for the film, with the rest of the score being put together by American composer Howard Drossin.
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The poster for the film states: "Original soundtrack by Fergus McCreadie Trio".
Sharing the news on social media, McCreadie said: "Been sitting on this for a long time!! Absolutely crazy to have some of my music and playing featured on the soundtrack for the new @officialspikelee film 'Highest 2 Lowest'. Spike came to Edinburgh to meet us at @edinburgh_jazz in 2024 and then we went over to NYC in November to record Stony Gate for the film, as well as a bunch of other cues for the film - what a ridiculous trip it was!
"Stony Gate was transformed into an orchestral arrangement for a couple of scenes in the film - it was a real honour to see and hear the great @ work on this and on the rest of the score.
Fergus McCreadie "The soundtrack comes out on Monday - pre save it at the link in bio!!"
Highest 2 Lowest is a crime thriller based on Akira Kurosawa's 1963 Japanese film High and Low.
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Alongside Washington, the film also stars Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, ASAP Rocky and Ice Spice.
The film will premiere in the US on August 15 and will be available in the UK exclusively on Apple TV from September 5.
The soundtrack for Highest 2 Lowest will be available on Monday.
