Up in the sky, a glider aircraft goes around in circles, before disappearing behind a grove... It then surfaces for landing on the very last note of “The Windmills Of Your Mind”, the theme tune to The Thomas Crown Affair sung by Noel Harrison. This song is the one that would earn Michel Legrand his first Oscar, he who had just created his inaugural soundtrack for Hollywood.
In 1968, the Parisian composer had already made himself known in the film industry, signing various classic soundtracks of the French New Wave, starting with Jacques Demy: Donkey Skin (Peau d’Âne) and the recipe for a “love cake” would feed generations of lovers; The Young Girls of Rochefort (Les Demoiselles de Rochefort), two twin sisters presented with a frantic swing; The Bay of Angels (La Baie des Anges), a love story that deeply inspired Legrand, and so on.
These are not the only classic works that the pianist tirelessly composed on sleepless nights – more than 200 original soundtracks in total, mostly for the “cinéma”, as goes the title of a Claude Nougaro-sung melody that Legrand penned. Let’s not forget the Summer of '42’s romantic and chic melody which earned his second of three Oscars, but also the dramatic song titled “Without You” (“Sans Toi”) for Agnès Varda’s Cléo from 5 to 7. And rare compositions, too, no less relevant, like the whirling “Jerk” featured in the unlikely The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun, that has long been a cult record for Japanese vinyl collectors!
These songs picked from a nearly 70-year spanning career prove the depth and range of Legrand’s repertoire. He learned the craft of arrangement and composition with music high priestess Nadia Boulanger who taught her knowledge to legions of huge musicians – from Quincy Jones to Leonard Bernstein and Philip Glass... Although classical music was one of his two trademarks, jazz will nevertheless be remembered as the genre in which Legrand excelled. Enumerating all his work in this field is a tall task, as he began very early along with Henri Salvador and Boris Vian. His own sister was none other than a member of the Double-Six, and he himself composed in 1964 the bold record Archi Cordes, a ternary twist that rides on all modes to better make fun of all codes.
The prodigy in the classical music academy discovered jazz at the end of the Second World War, in 1948, at a Dizzy Gillespie concert at Salle Pleyel. He would go back there regularly, discreetly and more explicitly, as in 1958, when the little “Frenchie” leads an incredible team: Ben Webster, Donald Byrd, Phil Woods, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers... Legrand Jazz is, certainly, a classic of jazz music, a genre to which he would even offer a handful of classics, including “You Must Believe in Spring” and “Once Upon a Summertime”. Bill Evans, like Chet Baker, like so many others, became attentive admirers. The reality is, Michel Legrand, is gargantuan.
Michel Legrand
Michel Legrand played the full spectrum of feelings in the same way he played the full scale of the 88 black and white keys.
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