Music meanings in movies: The case of the crime‐plus‐jazz genre

Abstract

This paper explores the role of film music in creating meanings of concern to those with an interest in consumption, markets, and culture. Specifically, the paper examines ways in which the significance of ambi‐diegetic cinemusical moments – that is, music performed on‐screen (diegetic) in a manner that advances the dramatic development of plot, character, and other themes (non‐diegetic) – enrich our interpretation of three key exemplars from the crime‐plus‐jazz motion‐picture genre: Pete Kelly’s Blues (1955), The Cotton Club (1984), and Kansas City (1996). Key homologous parallels and contrasts among these three films touch on various consumption‐, markets‐, and culture‐related themes in general and on the contrast or tension between commerce (crime) and art (jazz) in particular.

Keywords:

• film
• cultural products
• jazz
• crime
• commerce