Michel Legrand (born February 24, 1932 in Paris) is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor and pianist.
He has composed over 200 film and television scores, several musicals, and made well over a hundred albums. He has won three Oscars (out of 13 nominations), five Grammys, and has been nominated for an Emmy. He was 22 when his very first album, I Love Paris, became one of the best-selling instrumental albums ever released. He is a virtuoso jazz and classical pianist, and an accomplished arranger and conductor who performs with orchestras all over the world.
In the early 1950s, Legrand was one of the first Europeans to work with legendary jazz innovators Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Stan Getz and Bill Evans. At that time they were at the height of their popularity, and to a European musician working with them seemed unattainable. But Legrand's talent and charm won over these great musicians, who made the records with him and left the memories to their descendants.
During various periods of creative work, Legrand became a conductor of different orchestras in St. Petersburg, Vancouver, Montreal, Atlanta and Denver. Many world stars (jazz, variety and even classical) recorded more than 100 albums with him. More than any other European songwriter, Legrand knew how to infiltrate into the repertoire of top singers such as Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Jack Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, Lena Horne, Johnny Mathis, Dame Kiri te Kanawa, James Ingram, and most of all Barbra Streisand.
Yentl (1983)
