Producer and music supervisor Randall Poster has partnered with Loudon Wainwright III and big band leader/Prohibition-era scholar Vince Giordano for “I’d Rather Lead a Band,” a new project based around the Great American Songbook.
Poster has provided music for over 100 films including “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Boyhood” and “Skyfall.” His earliest credits featured on 1995’s “Kids” directed by Larry Clark and “The Crossing Guard” directed by Sean Penn.
Earlier this year, he also made Variety‘s ten music supervisors to watch for the movie “Waves.” Working alongside Meghan Currier and Joe Rudge, Randall shot for the moon, and landed. The trio secured over 30 songs from such high-profile artists as Kanye West, A$AP Rocky, Tame Impala, Radiohead, Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar, and not without considerable struggle.
Giordano’s credits include “The Irishman” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” His 11-piece band The Nighthawks has been a staple of the New York City nightclub scene for 30 years.
The trio has joined together over a shared passion of music and are also linked through their work on HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” — Poster was the show’s music supervisor; Giordano appeared on the series and featured on the soundtrack; and Wainwright recorded vocals for some of the show’s songs.
Wainwright, who serves as singer, said of the “I’d Rather Lead a Band” experience: “I loved the idea of just being a vocalist. It was freeing, because I could shed my Loudon Wainwright III-ness. I will no doubt return to my foremost incarnation, but what a pleasure it was to settle back with this marvelous band and sing these songs.”
Wainwright’s activity over the past several years has been wide-ranging. His one-man show – “Surviving Twin,” based on his father’s Life Magazine column in the 1960s, toured internationally and became a Netflix special with help from Christopher Guest and Judd Apatow. He also released his memoir “Liner Notes” and in 2018 issued a 42-track “audio-biography” of rare, offbeat recordings.
See the “I’d Rather Lead a Band” track-list below:
1. How I Love You (I’m Tellin’ the Birds, Tellin’ the Bees)
2. Ship Without A Sail
3. Ain’t Misbehavin’
4. I’m Going to Give it to Mary with Love
5. The Little Things in Life
6. So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together
7. A Perfect Day
8. I Thought About You
9. I’d Rather Lead a Band
10. My Blue Heaven
11. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
12. Heart and Soul
13. You Rascal You (I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead)
14. More I Cannot Wish You