Jazz In High Heels

Mundell Lowe

In 1962 once again jazz returned to its notorious roots of accompanying strippers and burlesque queens, this time far from New Orleans and somewhere on the big silver screen. Mundell Lowe, a country music guitarist who converted to jazz and filled the chair in the big bands of Benny Goodman or small groups of Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday, was the one who composed music for the sexploitation film, Satan In High Heels, starring Meg Myles and Sabrina.

Looking for an opportunity to show his talent in composing and arranging, Lowe invited some of the best jazz musicians in New York City to his November-December recording sessions at RCA studios, among them Clark Terry, Eddie Costa, Phil Woods, Oliver Nelson, Buster Cooper, Joe Newman and George Duvivier.

The result, unlike the cheaply produced nudie flick, is an important and overlooked soundtrack in history of motion pictures.

Read the complete article here 

(with images of the film and selected tracks from the soundtrack)