Legrand in Rio - Miles? Trane?... Not really

[Fer Urbina]

This album by Michel Legrand was mentioned in a thread called because it's regularly listed as featuring with Miles, Trane, and other musicians present at the Legrand Jazz sessons.

I've done a bit of research, and it was actually recorded in Paris, by French musicians. Thanks to Brownie for his help, btw.

More, in my blog.

F

PS Apparently the ina.fr links don't seem to work anymore.

[Daniel A]

Thanks for this very interesting story! I might add that I've got the Japanese 2007 reissue SICP 1371 - the OBI strip declares it as a 75 year "bon anniversaire" edition for Legrand - and can report that it does not mention the connection with Philips. No recording date or personnel is given, the original release date is quoted as 1958-05-19 and furthermore it says "(p)© 1958 Sony Music Entertainment Inc."

[Fer Urbina]

Daniel,

That's the release date of the Columbia album in the US. As far as I know, it was leased by the French Philips label as part of the deal they had. Why Sony, and not Universal, releases it in Japan, I don't know.

F

[Fer Urbina]

it's nice when you throw a stone in the water and the ripples come back to you. This is from Brian Priestley on Facebook:

I covered the misattribution of Legrand In Rio 30 years ago, in my footnote to the Legrand entry (June 25 1958) of a Miles discography I did for Ian Carr's biography. Yes, Legrand In Rio was recorded in Paris and, in a 90-second chat with Legrand, I established that the trumpeter who imitates Miles's harmon-mute sound was Fernand Verstraete - according to the bandleader.

That footnote is also on the second edition of Carr's biography.

F

[Teasing the Korean]

How is this album? I have lots of Legrand, but his 1950s orchestral albums tend to be a little on the sleepy side for me. His stuff from the 60s and 70s is almost always great, though.

[Daniel A]

It's enjoyable for casual listening, but it sounds a bit old-fashioned compared to Legrand's (brilliant) 60s work.

[Teasing the Korean]

It's enjoyable for casual listening, but it sounds a bit old-fashioned compared to Legrand's (brilliant) 60s work.

As I would imagine. Legrand's musical transformation from the 1950s to the the 1960s is fairly astonishing.