Ruby Cairo

If John Barry had been anything in the 1990s, it was consistent.  His trademarked sound allowed his scores to be instantly recognizable as his own, while still retaining an amazing ability to be completely original.  In 1993, he scored a film called Ruby Cairo.  The film was about a widow Bessie Fargo (Andie MacDowell) who discovered her dead husband was pumping money into bank accounts around the world.  As she travels to recover the money, she learns that someone else has beaten her to the funds.  And so the race is on.  Released as Deception in the United States, the film was anything but successful.  However, John Barry's score is a delightful mix of flamenco guitar and "classic" Barry string work.

Beginning with the "Ruby Cairo Theme - Flamenco", the music isn't quite distinctly recognizable as Barry's.  But the strong main theme performed Ottmar Liebert and Luna Hegar is soft and almost romantic in tone.  As it progresses, it becomes clearer that it is certainly a Barry theme, and then the Latin rhythm kicks up a notch for a bit of "improv".  But the "Opening Theme" is where Barry fans will certainly smile.  This is Barry doing what he does best.  A strong theme (which we already heard the Flamenco version of), performed by a large string section accentuated with slight percussion and synthesized harpsichord.  But while Barry might have been in full "romantic" mode ("Banco de Cortez", "Berlin Fashion", "Closing Theme"), the suspense cues on the album are noteworthy because of their closeness to the style that Barry was using back in the 1960s, most notably the James Bond scores.

Cues like "Veracruz Encounter" is soft and ominous, and "Come, We Must Hurry" and "Carnival Chase" are tense enough to get the blood and adrenaline pumping.  The use of synths is a bit of a twist for Barry.  Sure he used synth percussion on The Living Daylights, but here he uses a synthesized choir ("Pyramid of Cheops", "Closing Theme").  It's ethereal, but it works rather well.  Also included on the album is the song based on Barry's theme, "The Secrets of My Heart".  Performed by Kristina Nicholls, it's pure adult contemporary, and should be noted that in the film it was this song that replaced the Opening and Closing themes that Barry had written.  (Shame on them!)  Nonetheless, it's a nice way to end this album.

Running a little over 45-minutes long, Ruby Cairo had only been available before as a hard-to-find Japanese import.  Now Prometheus Records has made it easier to get the album out there, even if it's only available in one place so far.  (http://www.soundtrackmag.com)  Still, I would have to strongly suggest that any Barry fan get this album - they will not be disappointed.