The Star Wars franchise is famous for many things, such as the infamous character studies on Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, the surprising plot twists during The Empire Strikes Back and the tantalizing special effects in recent films. Star Wars has brought joy to moviegoers and avid fans alike. This stems from how real the world feels and its ability to explore the backgrounds of little-known planets and aliens that inhabit the universe. Even the details of the franchise's fantastical music have evolved to display a homey feel inside of space.
In particular, the cantina music of Star Wars throughout the original trilogy created an interesting take on what aliens from different galaxies listen to daily. Instead of their music being completely alien and unable to be enjoyed by human ears, George Lucas thought it was best to create a familiar feel for moviegoers. Star Wars is far different from the world that humans live in, but there are quite a few similarities that hold viewers in their seats while watching, like John Williams' iconic song The Cantina Band. Even by a small and prominent margin, The Cantina Band from Star Wars should be celebrated for its ability to portray an exciting take on modern music with an alien twist.
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What was the Process of Creating Cantina Music in Star Wars?
Composer John Williams scored the cantina band music for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1977 and subsequently scored all the Star Wars films in The Skywalker Saga. Known previously as just the “Cantina Band,” the original band that was playing in the bar during A New Hope's actual name was Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes. Director George Lucas’ purpose of the cantina music was to have music that felt odd yet familiar to the audience. Lucas stated when discussing the band's creation, “Can you imagine several creatures in a future century finding some 1930s Benny Goodman swing band music in a time capsule or under a rock someplace—and how they might attempt to interpret it?”
Lucas intended to have a futuristic take on Goodman’s musical style. As such, Williams used that as his baseline, creating somewhat strange rhythms but enough familiarity that could be considered a catchy beat. Williams united nine jazz players to make this whimsical set, including two saxophones, a clarinet, a trumpet, a Caribbean steel drummer, and other percussion instruments. Along with all these musical tools was an ARP synthesizer for the bass that was used to amp up the alien-like quality. The music was filtered, creating a strange sound effect where the bottom end of the sounds that the music was playing was cut short. Then, Williams reduced the rear of each sound and attached a reverb to make the instrument's sounds thin out.
With the release of A New Hope, Williams created an iconic and catchy tune. As a result, disco producer Meco started a disco mix called "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band.” In his combination, he united the movie’s primary theme and added his own disco style. It eventually became an album entitled "Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk" and became an instant hit, winding on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one for two weeks.
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What Genre Is the Cantina Band Playing In Star Wars?
The music that is played by cantina band(s) like Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes is known as ji*zz, first noted in 1983's novelization of Return of the Jedi. However, the official title didn’t come into fruition until 1995 in the "Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina." The back cover officiated the music genre: “In a far-off corner of the universe, on the small desert planet of Tatooine, there is a dark, nic-i-tain-filled cantina where you can down your favorite intoxicant while listening to the best ji*zz riffs in the universe.” Specifically, it’s a mixture of jazz, upbeat, and swinging style that is similar to the music people still listen to today. Music players of ji*zz are also called ji*zz-wailers. This musical genre could be heard by the characters from within the story, producing a realistic feel of what is considered entertainment in the Star Wars universe.
Unfortunately, the title is no longer considered canon and is only a part of Star Wars Legends, where anything published before 2014 from within the Star Wars universe is considered not canon. For canon purposes, the first actual appearance of a cantina band was in Jabba’s Palace in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi with the band Sy Snootles and the Wailers, also known as the Max Rebo Band. The first song that played over was "Lapti Nek," which played over the death of Oola. However by 1997, a special edition replaced the song with a more upbeat swing on the music. The new song was called "Jedi Rocks," and Sy Snootles' puppet costume was now a CGI rendition of the character. What’s considered canonized and what’s not remains a bit cluttered. But for now, the Max Rebo Band is the only canon ji*zz music group within Star Wars continuity.
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The Theories Behind the Cantina Band Inside of the Star Wars
Like any film franchise, different theories take flight and evolve through time. Some fans believe that the cantina band(s) are actually secret spies either working for the Rebellion or the Empire. Nothing has been confirmed if this theory could hold up and be true, but such theories that fans come up with tend to lean towards being on the right side. In the real world, bars are a great place to congregate and spy onlookers when they've had one too many drinks. This was proven in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens when Resistance and First Order spies were present in Maz Kanata's cantina.
This wouldn’t be the first time someone spied on either the Rebellion or the Empire, but those were considerate plot devices made evident in the Star Wars stories. But the cantina bands, though sparse in appearances, were given enough detail to create an entire backstory, having produced a few short stories and mentioned in tales where they are given more material, such as what type of instruments they use (Kloo Horn, Dorenian Beshniquel, Fanfar, Ommni Box, Bandfill) and things of the sort. So it wouldn’t be too far-fetched if there was spying going on in the background of the original Star Wars films. The cantina band is a small yet interesting part of the Star Wars lore that keeps it grounded, and fans are impressed enough to create clever backstories. It's no wonder the cantina band makes its appearances in pop culture to this day.
