Marty Isenberg's Wes Anderson Playlist

Come listen to jazz bassist Marty Isenberg and his ensemble of talented, young musicians as they capture the melancholy, wonder, and precision of filmmaker Wes Anderson through music.

“I’ve always resonated deeply with Wes Anderson’s movies,” muses Isenberg. “There was something so familiar about the way he captured the ache of adolescence.” He appreciated how Anderson’s cinematic language always seemed to juxtapose our local vastness with our cosmic tininess. Of course, Isenberg loved the off-kilter mixtape quality of the soundtracks and how perfectly they mirrored the plotlines. So he set out to put his own spin on songs by artists like David Bowie, Nick Drake and the Velvet Underground but through the lexicon of jazz orchestration and improvisation. The resulting album is a sonic storyboard, a soundtrack to the wonder, loneliness and nostalgia of life in the modern world. Downbeat Magazine’s glowing review says that, “Movies for your ears are somewhat cliched, but Isenberg has gone way beyond that. This is a movie.”

Isenberg has been an in-demand bassist in the New York City jazz scene for almost 20 years. He’s played Birdland, the Blue Note and the Public Theater as well as several Broadway musicals. He has toured nationally and internationally. He is the founder and CEO of the Clinton Hill Music School, a twelve-year-old neighborhood music program in Brooklyn. His debut album garnered much critical acclaim and resonated with a wide audience, making the NACC jazz charts and racking up over 40,000 streams on Spotify. Vintage Guitar Magazine described The Way That I Feel as a “fascinating concept, executed splendidly.” Isenberg’s unique sensibility seems to capture the melancholy, wonder and precision of Wes Anderson’s cult classics. Perhaps a sequel is in store. In the meantime, roll credits.

Host or Publisher Bay Area Jazz & Arts, Inc