Edward Humphries

In 1908, classical composer Camille de Saint-Saëns composed arguably the first original score to a movie entitled, The Assassination of the Duke de Guise. As France’s most celebrated composer, Saint-Saëns had extensive experience scoring music for the theater. His approach in scoring the film was to create mood music that guided the audience through each scene.

Thomas Edison was the inventor of the light bulb. What you may not know, however, is that he also developed the earliest motion picture camera, owned a movie production company, and helped produce the first narrative movie, The Great Train Robbery. Filmed in 1903 in Edison’s New York studio, the short 12-minute movie was utterly silent when it premiered on December 1st, 1903 at Huber's Museum in New York City. Rather than asking audiences to sit through a silent film, director Edwin S. Porter called for an ensemble or a piano player to accompany the film with appropriate music. Some theaters would use Edison’s other invention, the phonograph, to provide the musical backdrop.

When marketing companies create advertisements, they dive deep into the consumer psyche to create a 30-second campaign designed to lead you to action. Pick up the phone, order online, go shopping – this is the endgame of adverts. As in movies or television shows, the goal is to trigger your emotions. One of the main components of a commercial is background music.

Two alternating notes are all it took to warn us that a great white shark was looming in the deep waters. Four notes reminded us that fate is always knocking at the door. And, the high shrills of spiccato strings are enough to create panic as a psycho killer brings imminent death. Whether it’s John William’s Jaws theme, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, or Bernard Herrmann’s enigmatic film score to Psycho, music can amplify strong emotions, as we watch scenes and images flash across a movie screen.

The Bluebird Café in Nashville, Tennessee is a sight to behold. Not a night goes by that there isn't a line out the door and around the corner. It's not uncommon to see upwards of 300 people standing on the adjacent sidewalk waiting for their turn to grace the door with their presence. You would think that it was the hottest venue in town.

Engage any Missippian in a conversation about Blues roots music and they're likely to defer to Robert Johnson. However, if you asked Johnson who his go-to guy was, without reservation, his answer would have been Charley Patton. You'd also get the same response from Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Son House, and later on, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page.

Bruno Mars picks up where he left off with "Uptown Funk" by releasing his rollback offering, 24K Magic, a blatant homage to black pop, soul, and hip-hop artists of the '80s and '90s. The entourage of new tunes was foreshadowed by the release of the title track accompanied by the new video just days ago. Mars fans young and old have been waiting too long for the new album, and 24K Magic heightens their expectations.