“From the sight-reading abilities of the students who came to the [reading sessions], 95% of whom were not music majors, to the great questions and comments we got from students in the classes, to the amazing enthusiasm and energy of the jam session, everywhere we went we could feel the intelligence and open-mindedness of Harvard undergraduates.”
“Early on he was thinking somehow in the recesses of his mind that 'Hey, maybe we should do that,' and I know he was interested in the possibility of setting the book to music.”
“He made a score that in some ways is very spare, which fits with the period that is represented in the film, which is actually a unique period in Japanese history because it was a period of transition. Hence, you have all these instruments in transition as well.”
“He's just so much a master of the material, and that's also based on the deep knowledge of the jazz world, of the American musical theater. By having had such a wide and deep history in all these different musical genres he can pick and choose at any moment what needs to be and it's always organic, it's always him, because all of these worlds are a part of him.”
