[Dixielandjazz] Re: Musicians faking in movies

[Bill Haesler]

> What about Johnny Depp in "Chocolat?"...

Dear Karen.
You have opened up a can of worms with your rhetorical question.
That delightful film, 'Chocolat', about a mother and daughter who open a
chocolate shop in a small French village and manage to upset the moral
majority in the community, has the wonderful actor Johnny Depp cast as a
gypsy.
Johnny Depp was also an accomplished musician and a member of several
working rock bands.
A biog of Depp states (in part):     
"Depp has continued his musical connections throughout, appearing in the
video for MacGowan's That Woman's Got Me Drinking, as well as The
Lemonheads' It's A Shame About Ray, Concrete Blonde's Joey and Tom Petty's
In The Great Wide Open. He's also in an occasional band called P, who
released an LP in 1995, played slide on Oasis's Fade In-Out on the Be Here
Now album, and appeared with Brad Pitt and Keanu Reeves on the Hollywood
Goes Wild LP, in aid of an animal rescue charity."
It is a long time since I last saw 'Chocolat' so I can't recall what Depp's
'musical' contribution was.
However, the film credits include both J.J. Holiday and Buck Holland as
guitar coach to Johnny Depp.
Depp may have just mimed to one of the above items, as he is not given any
musical credit in the extensive Internet Movie Data Base summary.
So far as members of your local S.F. Hot Club doing part of the film
soundtrack, I am surprised, as I believe that it was a French/UK production.
The following musicians are credited, J.J. Holiday, Malcolm Ross, Ged Barry
and Iain Stoddart. Perhaps they are your Hot Club members?
Although neither Johnny Depp or 'Chocolat' get a mention in Scott Yanow's
new book 'Jazz on Film' (2004, Backbeat Books) the film does feature some
'jazz' music, including Sidney Bechet's, "Promenade aux Champs Élysées";
Hoagy Carmichael's "Two Sleepy People"; Duke Ellington's "Caravan";
Gershwin's "Summertime"; Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt, "Minor
Swing"; Robert Johnson, "They're Red Hot"; Al Lewis "Start the Day Right",
plus some French musicians (I have details).
Kind regards,
Bill (who should be doing other more important things, but just can't help
himself when it comes to researching stuff).