Jazz Pianist Receives Surprise Job Offer from Spike Lee for Film Score

Scottish jazz pianist Fergus McCreadie received an unexpected phone call from famed director Spike Lee, which he initially thought was a scam. Lee reached out to McCreadie in July 2022 to ask if he would contribute to the score of his upcoming crime thriller, *Highest 2 Lowest*. At first, McCreadie dismissed the calls and emails as spam, but after confirmation from his manager, he realized it was real. Lee even flew to Edinburgh to see McCreadie perform live. The film will incorporate McCreadie’s track, *Stony Gate*, as part of its score, arranged by Howard Dressin. McCreadie traveled to New York with his jazz trio to record the music, where Lee shared the scenes the track would accompany, ensuring the musicians could match the emotion of the scenes. McCreadie, a 2022 Mercury Prize nominee, expressed that being involved in film music felt like a distant dream come true. He also highlighted the surreal nature of the experience, as well as the honor of working with other musicians on the soundtrack. The film has already been released in the U.S. and will be available for streaming on Apple TV+ in September. This reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s *High and Low* stars Denzel Washington.