A NEW KIND OF LOVE is a fast-moving romantic comedy in technicolor, set against Paris and New York backgrounds, with some highly imaginative fantasy sequences. Starring Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, A NEW KIND OF LOVE presented a panoramic canvas against which Garner could compose with complete freedom, in many moods-ranging from the most melodic, swinging songs, to some poignant lyric ballads.
The uninhibited imagery which is so characteristic of Garner's piano improvisations was given full rein in relation to the situations and portrayals in the film, and is even further developed in this album collection. What began as an assignment to compose four themes for underscore, became a series of memorable songs in the hands of Garner. As with his classic MISTY, and his many other compositions, the new Garner themes from the film stay with the listener.
In the film, the Garner themes were adapted and orchestrated by veteran Hollywood composer conductor, Leith Stevens, who subsequently joined Garner in this album venture. Stevens, who has some sixty films to his credit, and is a product of the Horner Institute of Music, and Juilliard, had many things to say about the entire film and album experience with Garner: "Early in February of this year, Erroll Garner was engaged by Paramount Studios in Hollywood to compose four themes for the film, A NEW KIND OF LOVE. At about the same time, Paramount engaged me to do the score, asking me to use Garner's themes in a major way in the body of the score. This is not an unusual procedure in musicals, where, by custom, the songs of the production are always used as the basis of the score; but, to my knowledge, this is the first time the technique has been applied to a film other than the musical variety. Although I have done many musicals, I have never been asked to score this kind of film using material written by another composer.
"There were several other unique conditions present in this situation: First, Garner had never written music for a specific dramatic purpose-much less music to conform to the rigid customs of film writing.
"Second, in the past, even when producers have managed to engage Jazz composers approaching Garner's stature, they have been assigned to do films concerned with murder, mayhem, delinquency, deviation, drugs, or insanity. Parenthetically, Garner has consistently-through the years-refused to accept such assignments, refusing to use his music or image to underscore sordid, or negative subjects. Thus, unknowingly, he had joined ranks with many of us here in Hollywood who feel Jazz has more to contribute than would be possible if it is to be relegated to such stereotyped and often tasteless films. This score had to be a far cry from anything done for films by a jazz composer in the past.
"As soon as Garner arrived in Hollywood, we began to study the film together. Early in our meetings, I learned that Erroll thinks musically in terms of character, color, texture, line and mood. This ability is a prime requisite for proper and effective film writing. Garner studied the movements and nuances of Miss Woodward and Newman on screen, as well as the Paris backgrounds, and readily captured many vital facets," Stevens stated.
