If Yoko Kanno didn’t return to write the music for Netflix’s new live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, there really wouldn’t have been a reason to do it. Her jazz-infused score practically defines Cowboy Bebop as much as Spike, Faye, Jet Black, and Ein combined. Thankfully, she is back for this version, which debuts later this week, and a new video tells us all about it.
In the video, we see Kanno discussing her approach to returning to the world of Bebop, how she did things differently this time around, and we get to see and hear her create some of what she calls a “groovy potluck party.” In a Netflix press release, music supervisor and soundtrack album producer Thomas Golubić said, “This soundtrack represents Yoko Kanno’s vision and her singular magic. It’s Seatbelts, a jazz band in top form, playing their hearts out under the guidance of a maestro.” So, hey — 3, 2, 1, let’s jam out and check out the video.
There are some really cool little tidbits in that, in addition to the pure joy of seeing Kanno conducting musicians, most of whom are wearing shirts with the name of one of their songs on them (of course it’s “Tank”). One interesting note is that she’s only reusing about one-tenth of the music she originally made for the anime. Also, she doesn’t give any of the characters their own themes, instead preferring to write music based on situation and emotion. It’s a great clip that gives you really, really high expectations for the show (unfortunately, while our own Charles Pulliam-Moore admired the soundtrack in his review, the rest of the show didn’t fare so well).
You can make up your own mind very soon: Cowboy Bebop as well as its soundtrack are out on Friday.