The Menacing Sounds of In Cold Blood

Our new release of In Cold Blood, Richard Brooks’s chilling 1967 true-crime masterpiece, features an interview with film critic and jazz historian Gary Giddins, who offers a wonderfully illuminating examination of legendary record producer Quincy Jones’s music for the film. In the clip above, Giddins discusses how Jones's menacing jazz score made fascinating use of bass lines—which were played by famed session musician Carol Kaye—and how these haunting musical cues set the psychological tone for the film.