Chanson de Maxence I am particularly attracted by the music of Michel Legrand, represented by two songs in this French songbook. He is the only composer, with Joseph Kosma and Charles Trénet (and a few others) to have made a permanent stamp on the international repertoire of standards and evergreens, from which jazzmen looking for melodies have long drawn their inspiration. Gérard Rouy, Jazz Magazine Cécile, ma fille When this song was written, Claude Nougaro was just beginning his career. Dark, obstinate and… tender, as shown by the lyrics of this song, a hard-boiled guy who falls head over heels in love with a baby girl
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Chanson de Maxence I am particularly attracted by the music of Michel Legrand, represented by two songs in this French songbook. He is the only composer, with Joseph Kosma and Charles Trénet (and a few others) to have made a permanent stamp on the international repertoire of standards and evergreens, from which jazzmen looking for melodies have long drawn their inspiration. Gérard Rouy, Jazz Magazine Cécile, ma fille When this song was written, Claude Nougaro was just beginning his career. Dark, obstinate and… tender, as shown by the lyrics of this song, a hard-boiled guy who falls head over heels in love with a baby girl. His baby girl. Ever since, Claude has always been with us. He had blues, jazz and poetry in his blood. He was like a big brother, rebel and protector. I never pass in front of his brick house in Paris without my heart skipping a beat. Thank you, the Alzy Trio, for helping to keep the legend of this magnificent artist alive. Marie-Hélène Fraïssé, France Culture The melody is everything, elegantly simple. Emotion just barely contained, true feeling expressed along the trails of an inner voyage, a desire, a moment in life. The lyrics by Nougaro exude the many fragrances of a young woman coming into being. Of course, his words and his notes echoed my own desires far beyond any rhyme or reason. No doubt because the Nougaro of that time, still a young man, stood, to my open eyes and ears, as a son of the south, where they play rugby, and as a child born of jazz, java and opera. Robert Latxague, Jazz Magazine Chanson des jumelles The trade winds carried the twin sisters from the movie to South America. What were their names again? I have forgotten them, but not the tune, so heady and exuberant, composed by Michel Legrand. The two were so frivolous, mischievous and such a pain. Jacques Demy chose two sisters, Françoise Dorléac and Catherine Deneuve. A few years before, the first had starred with Belmondo in L’homme de Rio, in Brazil, and the second, later, with Yves Montand in Le Sauvage, on an island in Venezuela. And they were still so frivolous, mischievous and such a pain. It almost seems that the girls from Rochefort, along the Atlantic coast of France, had already set their sights on the South-American rhythms so dear to the Alzy Trio. Sandrine Mercier, France Inter Que reste-t-il de nos amours ? For me, this song evokes the difference between melancholy and nostalgia. It is of course the second that best describes the subject here, which looks back over a happy past whose memories remain a moment of joy. The "stolen kisses" are the evanescent little secrets that inspired François Truffaut. Jean-Paul Boutellier, Vienne jazz festival Les feuilles mortes It has been a while that autumn leaves have been falling, twirling, dying and resuscitating, autumn leaves yet still so green. Blues for the fertile sadness of autumn, then the rite of spring and the joy, still there, for the music. A leaf falls, a few notes of music and an entire universe springs up, always the same, never the same. This time, it is the Alzy Trio that interprets this classic jazz tune for our greater pleasure. Jean-Christophe Martin, France Info All these melodies are the background music of my life. Some of them since my birth. But I owe my first name to Yves Montand, the permanent "guest" at home. So I have a special spot in my heart for Autumn leaves, the song of my parents. Its nostalgia has always been there to envelop me like a spell of loyalty to friends, to ideas. And also like a promise of sadness when losing one of them. So, Bonjour tristesse. Yves Sportis, Jazz Hot Tu verras What a joy to rediscover the lyrics of this song, carried by a woman’s voice that is spellbinding, suave and dynamic, and accompanied by heartfelt music. A hymn to love that makes me want to rediscover the repertoire of that moving wordsmith who had rhythm in the blood. No one is the same after hearing this song. Michèle Caron, France Bleu Billie Jean The arrangement of Billie Jean, an absolute cult song and a UFO in this French songbook, shows once again that rules are made to be broken. What would become of our liberty if that were not the case? What would become of creativity if there were no rule breakers? What would become of the epicurean Alzy Trio if it did not break away from its basic genre, bossa nova, in order better to seduce and surprise us? What could be more true to jazz than this "alzy" cover of a hit written by the king of pop. The Alzy guitars play exciting variations of the hypnotic bass guitar lick. One of the songs on this album asks what remains of our loves. The answer is Billie Jean, of course. Pierre Bigorgne, Grands Reportages magazine
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