Watch What Happens: The Songs of Michel Legrand

Every now and then, there's an album dedicated to a single composer which helps crystallize just how good that composer is, or was. This is true with Dominic Alldis' tribute album to Michel Legrand. Legrand started writing in 1953 when he composed the sound track for a French short Beau Fixe. Since then, he has composed a huge body of work for many films, TV shows, and other vehicles. Needless to say, he has numerous albums to his credit — both of his own works and in support of other performers — winning Oscars, Grammys, and other awards along the way. English singer and pianist Dominic Alldis, who has released albums dedicated to the music of Bill Evans and Noel Coward, has gathered a play list of Legrand material, some familiar and some a whit obscure, for his fourth release. On some cuts, Alldis sings; others are strictly instrumental. For the vocal cuts, some are in French, others in English. The same is true with the lyrics in the liner notes. They are divided between the two languages. The arrangements are also quite special. On "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort" (The Young Girls of Rochefort), when Alldis is singing (in French), he's accompanied by the rather grandiloquent Allegri String Quartet. Following a chorus of this, the Alldis-led piano quartet picks up for a slightly jazzier chorus, before Alldis the singer takes the rest with the strings. In contrast, on "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life," Alldis sings and plays piano with Tim Garland's sax getting a couple of solo interludes. This album will definitely appeal to those who cherish Legrand's music, as well as those who appreciate tasteful musicianship, and there's plenty of that on this album. Recommended.