But what a fab soundtrack . . .

WITH the rap, soul and salsa of 1989’s Do The Right Thing an early example, music is often central to Spike Lee’s films — and jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard’s superb score for BlacKkKlansman looks a good bet for Oscar recognition next year.

Available digitally, it combines powerful orchestral themes, languid interludes and funkier pieces fuelled by wah-wah guitar.

Memorable songs from the Seventies also feature in the film itself, including classic southern soul number Too Late To Turn Back Now, the Edwin Hawkins Singers’ gospel arrangement of Oh Happy Day, Looking Glass’s pop hit Brandy and Greg Lake’s poignant ballad Lucky Man.

The ELP bassist and vocalist passed away in 2016, but it is another singer who died that year who takes pride of place during the film’s closing credits.

Prince’s Mary Don’t You Weep, sung alone at the piano and recorded on cassette in 1983, has all the improvisational panache he displayed onstage.