Legrand Jazz was one of those recordings, to use pianist’s Barry Harris’ phrase, that helped me “see out a bit” [in other words, to get beyond my initial Jazz preferences and to develop an interest in the music’s many manifestations].
Put another way, Legrand Jazz was to become the source for a number of my earliest Jazz quests, all of which would expand my Jazz horizons.
I am indebted to my membership in the Columbia Record Club for bringing Legrand Jazz into my life at a relatively, young age. Little did I know at the time I first subscribed to its monthly service that the club membership would inadvertently further my Jazz education.
Because of the music that Michel chose to orchestrate, I met Fats, Django and Bix [do any of them need last names?] for the first time as I sought out more information about the composers of The Jitterbug Waltz, Nuages, and In A Mist, respectively.
In some cases, such as his up-tempo version of Bix’s In A Mist, Michel’s arrangements became so definitive in my mind that I was shocked when I later heard this tune taken at a much slower tempo by other Jazz interpreters.
There must be some degree of irony, too, in a story about a young man in Southern California being inspired to find out more about the early originators of Jazz music as a result of listening to Jazz big band arrangements written by a youthful Frenchman!
