ORIGINAL JAWS VIOLINIST CELEBRATES JOHN WILLIAMS

To help celebrate the 90th birthday of composer John Williams, The Daily Jaws has joined with The Legacy of John Williams, in bringing an interview with Richard Kaufman, who was a violinist on both the scores for Jaws and Jaws 2.

In a fascinating video interview, Tim Burden, from The Legacy of John Williams, speaks to Kaufman about some of the amazing people and scores he has played on, with a large focus on Jaws. During the interview he also reminisces on how during those Jaws recording sessions in March 1975, how Jaws director Steven Spielberg would visit with his 8mm camera.

And Kaufman was also in the orchestra pit at the 1976 Academy Awards, which John Williams was Music Director of that year, when Williams had to go on stage and collect his Oscar for Jaws.

Richard said: “Working with John is always an event, and you could tell by the power of the music that there was something very special going on.” 

Kaufman also played for John Williams on Clint Eastwood’s The Eiger Sanction, Midway, Family Plot – the final film by Alfred Hitchcock – a return to Steven Spielberg with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, back to Amity Island for Jaws 2 and Black Sunday, which starred a post Jaws Robert Shaw.

He is set to be playing and paying tribute to John Williams with forthcoming shows in both Dublin and Fortworth, Texas and Miami, Florida. 

Richard said: “A lot of orchestras are paying tribute to John and, not only his music, but paying tribute to him as a human being. Nobody deserves it more.

“I wish John many more years, and I know he is going to outlive us all, which will be no surprise to anybody. He’s really an extraordinary man. His music is some of the best ever written for film, but putting that aside, he is one of the most wonderful human beings who has ever been in the business. 

“And when you combine that, you have a legend, who would never think of himself as a legend.”

Our thanks to Tim and Maurizio from The Legacy of John Williams, you can discover more of their great work here: The Legacy of John Williams – Celebrating the music and the art of Maestro John Williams

And a very special thank you to the humble and hugely talented Richard Kaufman.

Words by Dean Newman

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