Negative Positive
Title: excellent
Review: Too few people know Michel Legrand, and half of those don't as a jazz musician. The understated name this master has mostly came from 1960s soundtracks:The Thomas Crown Affairis most well known.Legrand's arranging is indelible. He has American swing and European elegance. We now think of crime jazz as a cleche, but Legrand's work of the era showed that cloak and dagger, swingin' pad sound really did exist. Just ask his horns.On Legrand jazz, his stamp is put on standards. This album was made in the 1950s, before he wrote the sophisticated structures for his brilliant film scores. "Night In Tunisia," and "Round Midnight" are here.To me these sound more like cool jazz. It does have dramatic flair: not as much as Legrand developed in the 1960s. The arrangements here remind me of Gil Evan's. Not surprising: my copy has Legrand sitting next to Miles Davis.
Is the review positive or negative? 