#john williams

Song Review: Punch Brothers - “Main Title (Theme from Jaws)” (Live on a Boat)

It could’ve easily been cheese. But Punch Brothers’ rendition of “Jaws,” performed for a small group of festival-goers motoring toward the Newport Folk Festival site, is red meat for music-lovers.

Though they are a bluegrass quintet playing bluegrass instruments, the Punches proved themselves up to the task John Williams set forth with “Main Title (Theme from Jaws)” during the performance, just released on professional video.

While only Paul Kowert’s bowed bass and Brittany’s Haas’ fiddle-cum-violin could be considered classical instruments, Noam Pikelny’s banjo is sufficiently spooky, Chris Eldridge’s acoustic guitar adds color and Chris Thile’s stomping feet and clapping hands combined to make the thought of a rabid great white jumping on board to eat the passengers seem a reasonable possibility.

Grade card: Punch Brothers - “Main Title (Theme from Jaws)” (Live on a Boat) - A

Welcome to another Saturday Shuffle, where I put my Rumbelle/ general writing playlists on shuffle, grab a song, and ramble about how it inspired a story I wrote! 🎶

This Week's Saturday Shuffle:

"The Fountain Scene" by John Williams from The Terminal (2004)

Where It Came From: My shuffle is serving up two G.O.A.T.s this week with John Williams scoring a Tom Hanks film! I've only seen The Terminal once or twice, but I rediscovered the score on shuffle almost a year ago, and it is a delightful listen.

What I Used It For: This song was added to the Happy Golden Days of Yore playlist. I love John Williams' use of glockenspiel; to me, it's perfect Christmas vibes (due in no small part to his score for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). This particular track has the Harry Potter Christmas feel with the chimes and harp to go with it. It's just a soft, magical moment that helped build some beautiful Dark Castle Rumbelle vignettes last December, and I'm sure it'll spark a few more this year!

A typical example of underscoring. The music requires no melody but simply has to reinforce the tension of the scene.