Michel Legrand

Most significant as a composer for films, Michel Legrand has long been an underrated jazz pianist. This CD features Legrand playing a variety of his melodies in a trio with bassist Marc Michel le Bevillon and drummer Umberto Pagnini. Toots Thielemans adds his welcome harmonica to two pieces ("The Summer Knows" and "I Will Wait for You") which helps to compensate for Legrand's heartfelt (but somewhat painful) vocals; fortunately the latter are brief. The trio has good workouts on "Watch What Happens" and some lesser-known material and Legrand also performs medleys from "Donkey Skin" and "The Young Girls of Rochefort" (which includes a dozen melodies including his famous "You Must Believe in Spring"). A worthwhile release. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide