Michel Legrand at Shelly's Manne Hole

The Appointment was a 1969 drama starring Omar Sharif as a lonely Italian attorney who romances and weds a beautiful model (Anouk Aimee)—all the while suspecting that she is a highly priced prostitute. Although directed by Sidney Lumet, The Appointment was a troubled production that led to its receiving three fully recorded scores by four composers. FSM's premiere release of the original soundtrack features selections from each—making for a rare and fascinating look at three different approaches for a single film.

This Tribute is a poetic voyage, a secret garden in which blooms more than fifty years of two immense musical careers. Use it to remember, to retrace their paths. “Walk in the rain, take tea at midnight, walk on the sea, dance around the earth, swing in the air.” And never forget that yes, you really can “do anything when you love each other.” A 2 CD 34 track homage to a wonderful musical relationship.

Featuring compositions and arrangements by film composer and jazz buff Michel Legrand, Stan Getz's Communications '72 is one in a long line of strings-and-voices albums the tenor saxophonist recorded. Starting with a Gunther Schuller-arranged session from 1955, Getz produced some impressive work in this context, with the incredible Eddie Sauter collaboration Focus standing out in particular. And even in the midst of some not-so-incredible backing on a few sets, Getz always comes up with impeccable solo statements. For his part, Legrand strikes an expert balance here among jazz combo, strings, and chorus, but the frenetic Swingle Singers-style choral parts don't always come off. While overpowering Getz on the otherwise lovely "Redemption," the vocal interjections sound too overarching in their mix of avant-garde and straightforward phrasing on "Outhouse Blues" and "Bonjour Tristesse"…

Near the beginning of his career, Michel Legrand was primarily known as a jazz pianist, so it shouldn't be surprising to learn that none of his compositions are present on these 1959 studio sessions, which were issued by Phillips. With bassist Guy Pederson and drummer Gus Wallez, Legrand covers songs by French composers of the day along with the ever-popular "Moulin Rouge" and a somewhat upbeat arrangement of Edith Piaf's usually maudlin "La Vie en Rose," as well as standards from the Great American Songbook by Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Vernon Duke, and Mack Gordon. Most of the songs have a Parisian theme to them. Legrand's piano style is hard to define, as he shows a variety of influences without letting any of them overwhelm his sound…

Michel Legrand has spent most of his life as a composer in the studios and for films, but this release is a jazz classic. Legrand took 11 famous jazz compositions and arranged them for three different groups. Tenor great Ben Webster, flutist Herbie Mann, four trombonists, and a rhythm section perform pieces by Duke Ellington, Earl Hines, Django Reinhardt ("Nuages"), and the Count Basie-associated "Blue and Sentimental." A big band with trumpeters Art Farmer and Donald Byrd and altoist Phil Woods plays "Stompin' at the Savoy," "A Night in Tunisia," and Bix Beiderbecke's "In a Mist." The most famous session has Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Phil Woods, Herbie Mann, pianist Bill Evans, harp, vibes, baritone, and a rhythm section performing music by Thelonious Monk, John Lewis, Jelly Roll Morton ("Wild Man Blues"), and Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz"…

Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many songs. His scores for two of the films of French New Wave director Jacques Demy, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), earned Legrand his first Academy Award nominations.