Michel Legrand feat. Miles Davis - Legrand Jazz (1958) [2017 Vinyl]

In 1958, a young, successful French composer-arranger with a major infatuation on American jazz, worked his way to New York and convinced the very best players of the time to record an album of largely jazz standards. Michel Legrand would go on to win numerous prizes and accolades (three Oscars, five Grammys, two Palmes D’or, etc.), but little of what followed matched the sheer brilliance of Legrand Jazz.

Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Ben Webster, Phil Woods and practically every other session man in town signed up for sessions with Legrand to record his idiosyncratic arrangements of standards (“Django”, “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”, “Night in Tunisia”, etc.). Instead of regurgitating then current bop styles, he reinvented the very nature of orchestral jazz band repertoire to make a unique and forward-looking statement on the genre.

The sound of Impex’s all-analog LP preserves the wide soundstage of late 50’s Columbia recordings while creating intimate spaces between players on the stage for maximum definition. This rare, highly-praised recording has never sounded as good as it does now. Go big with Legrand Jazz.

Legrand Jazz was greeted by an enthusiastic review in the magazine Down Beat. Dom Cerulli awarded it five stars out of a possible five.

Tracks:

A1. The Jitterbug Waltz
A2. Nuages
A3. Night in Tunisia
A4. Blue and Sentimental
A5. Stompin' at the Savoy
A6. Django

B1. Wild Man Blues
B2. Rosetta
B3. 'Round Midnight
B4. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
B5. In a Mist

Personnel:

Michel Legrand, conductor, arranger (all songs)

For "The Jitterbug Waltz", "Django", "Wild Man Blues" & "'Round Midnight":
Recorded June 25, 1958 (New York City)
Herbie Mann, flute
Betty Glamann, harp
Barry Calbraith, guitar
Miles Davis, trumpet
John Coltrane, tenor sax
Phil Woods, alto sax
Jerome Richardson, baritone sax, bass clarinet
Eddie Costa, vibes
Bill Evans, piano
Paul Chambers, bass
Kenny Dennis, drums

For "Nuages", "Blue and Sentimental", "Rosetta" & "Don't Get Around Much Anymore":
Recorded June 27, 1958 (New York City)
Ben Webster, tenor sax
Herbie Mann, flute
Frank Rehak, trombone
Billy Byers, trombone
Jimmy Cleveland, trombone
Eddie Bert, trombone
Major Holly, bass, tuba
Don Lamond, drums
Hank Jones, piano
George Duvivier, bass

For "Night In Tunisia", "Stompin' at the Savoy" & "In a Mist":
Recorded June 30, 1958 (New York City)
Ernie Royal, trumpet
Art Farmer, trumpet
Donald Byrd, trumpet
Joe Wilder, trumpet
Frank Rehak, trombone
Jimmy Cleveland, trombone
Gene Quill, alto sax
Phil Woods, alto sax
Seldon Powell, tenor sax
Teo Macero, baritone sax
James Buffington, French horn
Don Elliot, vibes
Milt Hinton, bass
Osie Johnson, drums
Nat Pierce, piano