Last Updated on May 20, 2021, 11:35 PM | Published: May 20, 2021
Kitt Wakeley developed his love of music at home and at the movie theater, and the results were dramatic.
“I think the soundtrack for the original Superman was it, from 1978,” Wakeley said. “I just remember reading an article about the famous scene where Lois Lane and Superman, they’re at her flat and he takes her flying. And, you know, it’s one of the most memorable scenes in any Superman movie, but they couldn’t make it work. And John Williams said, ‘Hey, hang on, I’ll take care of that.’
“So John Williams writes this theme, and now all of a sudden that scene just comes to life,” he said.
Music and film
by Brett Fieldcamp
Sponsored by True Sky Credit Union
After reading about the impact Williams and other film composers like Bill Conti could have with a carefully crafted theme, Wakeley, then a kid growing up in Holdenville, ran out and bought a vinyl copy of the Superman: The Movie soundtrack. He studied “The Flying Sequence / Can You Read My Mind” and absorbed other themes Williams created in the service of cinema.
Partly as a result of discovering Williams’ scores and subsequently soaking up progressive rock, electronic dance music, heavy metal and the orchestrally rocking Trans Siberian Orchestra, Wakeley developed a suitably thunderous musical aesthetic.
He will bring the sturm und drang of his newly released symphonic rock album, Symphony of Sinners and Saints to Oklahoma City during his 7 p.m. Saturday performance at the Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave.
Wakeley started his music career playing trumpet in Holdenville High School’s marching band, but today he is a multi-instrumentalist who leads a rock orchestra and choir. Having created a thesis statement for his music with 2018’s Midnight in Macedonia album, Wakeley worked with guitarist Joe Satriani on Symphony of Sinners and Saints was preparing a performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall in Fall 2020 until COVID-19 concerns postponed the event.
He said that collaborating with Satriani, recording at Abbey Road Studios and getting booked at Carnegie Hall are the result of self-actualization.
“I’ve just always been that if I just set goals, if I say it often, if I say it out loud, it will somehow hold you accountable to everyone else around you,” Wakeley said. “And so if I say, ‘You know, one day I want to record with a Macedonian orchestra, you can bet your sweet tail, I’m going to record with them at some point.”
In keeping with the dramatic feel of “Forgive Me,” his May 14 single with Satriani, Wakeley said the live performance fans will experience Saturday goes above and beyond.
“I mean, this show is unreal,” he said. “They’re going to see some showmanship from the string players, the guitar players — all over the place. Then you’ve got this massive rigging of lights, lasers, mist, and I forgot how big the video wall is.”
Symphony of Sinners and Saints is out today. Visit okcciviccenter.com.
And … this!
Dameon Allensworth rocks better than most lawyers you know. A practicing lawyer in Oklahoma and Tennessee and a member of the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, Allensworth is also a singer-songwriter whose latest single, “Long Time Coming,” evokes great heartland rockers like Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen. See Allensworth at 7 p.m. Saturday at Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd Street. Visit towertheatreokc.com.
George Lang has worked as an award-winning professional journalist in Oklahoma City for over 25 years and is the professional opinion columnist for Free Press. His work has been published in a number of local publications covering a wide range of subjects including politics, media, entertainment and others. George lives in Oklahoma City with his wife and son.
