The Baton: A John Williams Musical Journey

The time, dedication and care for each episode telling the story of each score here is a work of beauty. The host dives into each score with enthusiasm working through where the music fits in the film and on some episodes has great guests who go through a detailed makeup of how the musical pieces work. A great primer for each score it really makes you want to go find up the scores you have missing in your collection while making you appreciate some of the major works even more than before. My only nitpick and it’s really my personal preference, is that the podcast doesn’t stray very often into the release history of some of these scores in the collectors market. There are often some great stories to be told there as well and I think would have added another layer to each episode. (though I’m only starting episode 51 Dracula as I write this so maybe that changes) Bravo looking forward to continuing my journey with the Baton!

A great look/review of the career of John Williams, from first assignment to present, going forward chronologically, tying the music to the film and discussing how and why it works; informative and entertaining, you may not always agree, but you’ll enjoy the journey.