Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (‘UnPrisoned’) on the ‘challenge’ of TV and their ‘otherworldly’ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction [Exclusive Video Interview]
“Terry and I are at the point of our careers where it’s kind of like, ‘What haven’t we done yet?,’ and episodic television scoring was one of those things,” shares musician Jimmy Jam about his and his collaborator Terry Lewis’ work as composers of Hulu’s “UnPrisoned.” The legendary duo has indeed done it all, penning and producing dozens of top ten records and earning five Grammy Awards from 23 nominations. Lewis adds that the series offered them a “challenge… something new coming in, get some new juices flowing.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
“UnPrisoned” centers on relationship therapist Paige (Kerry Washington) as she welcomes her father Edwin (Delroy Lindo) into her home after he completes a 17-year prison sentence. The series is set in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and since Jam & Lewis are “Minneapolis guys,” series creator Tracy McMillan and showrunner Yvette Lee Bowser thought their joining the project would bring “authenticity.” Throughout their career, the pair has been instrumental in defining Minneapolis sound, and Jam explains how they wanted to use “Minneapolis-based instruments like the LinnDrum, the Oberheim synthesizers” in the show’s score as “seasoning.”
WATCH our exclusive video interview with Tracy McMillan, ‘UnPrisoned’ creator
For the main title theme, Jam & Lewis wanted to create something “simple” that would be adaptable to the feeling of each episode. Jam had in mind a “three-note sonic” that harkened back to his and Lewis’ “early days of watching television” and especially the iconic sound that accompanied the “NBC peacock.” The two came up with a dozen versions including “a downtempo, uptempo, a happy, a sad,” and they were able to “reinterpret it in different ways” throughout the eight-episode season.
Both of the main characters inspired Jam & Lewis to write different types of musical cues. For Lindo’s character, the team opted to use an acoustic bass for his tracks because it is “a grand instrument, it’s a big instrument, it has weight.” Lewis notes how it was “befitting” because it brings “the boom in the room, that gut feeling that the bass hits you in the gut, and he’s that kind of character.” One cue in particular, titled “Edwin Loses Job,” is a beautifully stripped down, moving piece that underscores the scene of the character learning that his criminal record will prevent him from working a job as a restaurant cook that he had secured just scenes earlier. Jam describes that moment as “the first heavy moment” of the series, a “devastating moment” for the character, and one that “really resonated” with the composers.
SEE ‘UnPrisoned’ trailer: Dream team Kerry Washington, Delroy Lindo partner for father-daughter comedy
In contrast with Edwin, Jam & Lewis opted for more “childlike” sounds like a “music box” for Paige. Jam explains, “Even though she was an adult and giving advice to people… in the room with Edwin, she still was a little girl and her memories would take her back to there.” The duo used this type of cue for moments like the one in the premiere in which Paige is “waiting for her dad Edwin to come out of prison for the first time,” which is intercut with scenes “flashing back to her being a little girl.”
Just last year, Jam & Lewis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for Musical Excellence and were presented the honor by their frequent collaborator Janet Jackson. Reflecting on that moment, Lewis shares, “For me, awards are only as good as the people you share them with, and to be able to share this with Jimmy and my family was everything to me,” and he later describes their inclusion in the Hall of Fame as “otherworldly.” Jam concurs, calling it a “surreal” experience. He also looks forward, declaring, “Our most impactful work is still ahead of us.”
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