CHUCO VALDEZ AND MICHEL LEGRAND
July 28, 2008 - 8:30 pm
These 2 legends of jazz had to meet! After their first encounter at Habana Jazz Festival in 2005, Byblos will have the privilege to witness an extraordinary session:
The first set will see legendary Cuban pianist and Grammy Award winner Chucho Valdés perform a 60-minute Latin jazz set with his quintet. The second set will see Michel Legrand, France’s famous composer, meet Chucho on stage with 2 grand pianos face-to-face (with drums and double bass) for the encounter of 2 superstars united by their passion for jazz.
BIOGRAPHY CHUCO VALDEZ
Chucho Valdés was born in the Quivicán Province of Havana, Cuba in 1941, the son of Pilar Rodriguez and Bebo Valdés, a renowned Cuban pianist and composer. He began to play the piano at the age of three; when he turned 5, he went on to study with the illustrious Professor Oscar Muñoz Boufartique. At the age of 8, he enrolled officially at the Municipal Conservatory, graduating eventually in piano, theory and solfa. When he turned 14, Chucho started studying with Zenaida Romeu, Rosario Franco and Leo Brower. He started his first jazz trio at the age of 15, accompanied by Emilio del Monte and Luis Rodriguez. Parallel to his activities as trio leader, he played in his father’s Sabor de Cuba Orchestra until the year 1961.
Between 1961 and 1963 Chucho played at the Salón Internacional of the Havana Riviera Hotel. He recorded his first record, entitled Chucho Valdés y su Combo, in 1963. He also played piano with the Orchestra of the Musical Theater of Havana, under the direction of Tony Taño.
In 1964, the Chucho Valdes trio incorporated a singer called Amado Borcelá, better known as Guapacha; the band’s new recordings opened a new direction in Cuban popular music, and eventually paved the way for the creation of Irakere. This new group also incorporated Carlos Emilio Morales (guitar) and Paquito D’ Rivera (saxophone and clarinet).
In 1967 Chucho, along with Carlos Emilio and Paquito, joined the Cuban Modern Music Orchestra. The Irakere quintet took its first tentative steps in 1970, at the Jamboree Jazz Festival in Poland, with Chucho conducting and Dave Brubeck looking on admiringly; Chucho suddenly found himself showered in praise, and considered alongside Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea as one of the most talented Jazz pianists in the world. In 1972, Chucho decided to enlarge the trio, swelling its numbers with percussionists Carlos D’ Puerto and Oscar Valdés, and recording “Jazz Batá”; this was an important musical milestone, one that effectively marked the coming into full-fledged existence of the Irakere group in 1973, considered to this day the most important ensemble in the history of Cuban music in the second half of the 20th century.
Irakere initially consisted of Carlos D’ Puerto (bass), Oscar Valdés (percussion and vocals), Tato (congas), Carlos Emilio Morales (guitar), Jorge Varona (trumpet), Paquito D’ Rivera (saxophone) and Chucho Valdes (piano, composer, arranger and director). The band later expanded to include Carlos Averhoff (saxophone), Arturo Sandoval (trumpet) and Arming Cuervo (backing vocals). The initial Irakere line-up was maintained until 1980.
Irakere was the first Cuban group to obtain the prestigious Grammy Award, in 1980.
Chucho has performed on stage in more than 50 countries, playing live in venues as varied as the Carnegie Hall Foyer, the Kennedy and Lincoln centers, the Hollywood Bowl, Blue Note NY, the Village Vanguard, the Theater Colón of Buenos Aires, and many others. He has laid down on record an estimated number of 52 records. In 1996, Chucho Valdes joined young musician Roy Hargrove, and together they formed the band “Cresol”, enlisting in its ranks a host of important musicians from Puerto Rico, the USA and Cuba, and recorded the track “Havana”, for which they received a Grammy Award.
Along his memorable career, Chucho has played with such illustrious figures as Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Michel Legrand, Frank Emilio, Michael Camilo, Chick Corea, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Branford and Wynton Marsalis, Carlos Santana, Joe Lovano, Grover Washington Jr., Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson, Taj Mahal, Max Roach, Jack DeJohnette, Ron Carter and Gato Barbieri, as well as the Lincoln Center Big Band, the Village Vanguard Orchestra, John Clayton’s Big Band and the Orchestra of Machito. In 1997 he received the Doctorate Honoris Causes from the University of Victory, Canada
In 1998, while still leading the Irakere band, Chucho brought together a quartet operating from a different musical concept, one where the piano carries the voice of the singer, rather than leading. This quartet recorded for Blue Note Records, and released four records under the famous label’s aegis: Bele Bele in HavanaBriyumba Palo Congo, Live at the Village Vanguard and New Conceptions.
All four albums were nominated for a Grammy Award, while two of them received it. Chucho Valdes went on to record three albums for Blue Note under his own name; Solo Piano, Live in New York and Cuban Fantasy, 2 of which were nominated for the Grammies. He eventually received the Grammy Award for his Canciones Inéditas, an album consisting entirely of piano solos, released by Egrem Records.
To this day, Chucho Valdes has received 14 nominations and 5 Grammy Awards. He was offered the keys to the cities of Ponce (Puerto Rico), Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans and Madison, in the United States. He was inducted into the Hall of the Fame of Latin American Jazz alongside Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri and Lalo Schifrin. His native country has honored him with the National Prize of Music, the Doctorate Honoris Causes in Arts from the Higher Institute of Art of Havana, the Distinction for Pedagogical Merit from the Higher Institute of Art, as well as the Félix Varela Medal, the highest distinction ever awarded in Cuban Culture.
Chucho Valdes has recently started preparations for a grandiose new project, an opera entitled Obatalá.
BIOGRAPHY MICHEL LEGRAND
“Ever since I was a boy, my ambition has been to live completely surrounded by music. My dream is not to miss out on anything. That’s why I’ve never settled on one musical discipline. I love playing, conducting, singing and writing, and in all styles. So I turn my hand to everything-not just a bit of everything. Quite the opposite, I do all these activities at once, seriously, sincerely and with deep commitment.
This is how Michel Legrand describes his status as an atypical, compulsive musician who cannot be pigeonholed; or rather, his many statuses as a composer, conductor, pianist, singer, writer and producer. Tearing down the barriers between jazz, classical music and easy listening, he is at home in any musical situation. Born in 1932, Michel Legrand came from a family with a musical tradition represented by his father Raymond Legrand and his uncle Jacques Hélian. When he was ten, he entered the Paris Conservatory, which proved to be an unexpected revelation. “Until then, my childhood had been flat and unhappy,” he relates. “My life revolved around an old piano and I was very bored. I was very lonely. Suddenly, when I joined Lucette Descaves’ music theory class, I discovered a world that belonged to me, people who spoke my language. From then on, I felt that life had something exciting and motivating to offer.”
After studying under the iron rule of Nadia Boulanger, Henri Challan and Noël Gallon for several years, Legrand left the Conservatory with top honors in harmony, piano, fugue and counterpoint. He immediately gravitated to the world of song, working as an accompanist and musical director for Maurice Chevalier; he traveled with the famous French singer on his international tours and this gave him the opportunity to visit the United Sates for the first time. His instrumental LP I Love Paris did extremely well in that country, topping the US album charts in 1954. His first hit record also had great symbolic significance, revealing his international potential: the talented 22-year-old did not look back and continued to go from strength to strength in France and abroad.
In the 1950s, Michel Legrand also started composing for some of the artists he was accompanying. His first great song ‘La Valse des Lilas’, displayed an individual style of melodic writing which soon became his hallmark. “I put a great deal of faith in melody,” he admits. “Nadia Boulanger always said: “Put whatever you want above and below the melody but, whatever happens, it’s the melody that counts.” For example, modern music tends to bore me now. It does of course contain innovative rhythmic and contrapuntal devices but, without melody, its lifeblood, it is lifeless and this helps to dehumanize it. For my part, melody is a mistress to whom I’ll always be faithful.”
In 1955, Michel Legrand turned his hand to another mode of expression when he wrote the film score Les Amants du Tage by Henri Verneuil. Four years later, with the advent of the French New Wave, he became one of the architects of the revival of French cinema, collaborating with Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, François Reichenbach and, of course, Jacques Demy, his creative alter ego, with whom he invented a new genre of film musical. As well as being awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes festival and the Prix Louis Delluc, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg achieved massive world-wide success- despite the pessimistic predictions of many industry professionals. “Jacques and I had to work really hard to get this project off the ground,” remembers Legrand. “The producers showed us the door saying: “You’re a couple of nice young guys, but do you really think that people will spend an hour-and-a-half listening to characters singing life’s little platitudes!” They were afraid to finance a film that substituted singing for dialogue and that had a realist slant, much the same as everyday life. After a year of uncertainly, things began moving again, thanks to Pierre Lazareff (who introduced us to Mag Bodard, a young producer) and my friend Francis Lemarque with whom I recorded the music. In other words, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a work that was made against everybody’s better judgment!”
Initially covered by Nana Mouskouri, the parting lovers’ theme song (‘Je ne Pourrai Jamais Vivre Sans Toi’) became a popular standard, largely owing to the English adaptation by Norman Gimbel (‘I Will Wait for You’) and versions by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Louis Armstrong, Liza Minelli, etc. Legrand continued to set Jacques Demy’s imaginative lyrics to music (Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, Peau d’âne, Trois Places pour le 26), although he moved to Los Angeles in 1968 for what he called ‘a change of scene’.
After the success of The Thomas Crown Affair and his song ‘The Windmills of Your Mind’, Legrand decided to divide his time between Paris and Hollywood, working on anything that appealed to him: Un été 42, Lady Sings the Blues, Jamais plus Jamais, Yentl, Prêt-à-porter, etc. Regarding film music as another form of dialogue, Michel Legrand is the only European composer with a filmography that includes names like Orson Welles, Marcel Carné, Clint Eastwood, Norman Jewison, Louis Malle, Andrzej Wajda, Richard Lester, Claude Lelouch, to name just a few. Nonetheless, his prestigious awards in the field of screen music (three Oscars) have had no impact on his creativity. “An Oscar,” he stresses with conviction, “is a gold star, a piece of flattery, the sweet taste of success but, deep down, it doesn’t make you any better or worse as a composer, your strengths or weaknesses remain unchanged.
When I was a boy, I imagined that I had a pot of grease with special powers: If I dipped my fingers in it, I would have the technique of a Horowitz. Unfortunately, Oscar statuettes aren’t covered in grease! (laughter). In any case, that’s not what counts: I wrote all that music for and because of the cinema. Without films, none of it would exist.”
In 1964, Michel Legrand decided to perform his songs himself, adding yet another string to his bow. His voice became an additional instrument that he could put to unaccustomed use. “My idea,” he admits, “was simply to give it a try, to see what it was all about. I also did it to overcome my shyness. After years of being on stage with my back to the audience, I made up my mind to do the opposite, to turn round and face the spectators. Actually, I started to be tempted by the idea after Jacques Brel asked me to do the first half of his show at the Olympia. I was very surprised. Just as surprised as Claude Nougaro was when I encouraged him to perform the songs we’d written together (‘Les Don Juan’, ‘Le Cinema’). These things show how connected we all are, like interlocking wheels. With Jacques Brel’s encouragement, I took the plunge…” Michel Legrand worked on his voice and focused in particular on building up a repertoire with two writers of his choice: Eddy Marnay (‘Les Moulins de mon Coeur’, ‘Quand on s’aime’, ‘Les Enfants qui Pleurent’) and Jean Dréjac (‘Comme Elle est Longue à Mourir ma Jeunesse’, ‘Oum le Dauphin’, ‘L’été ’42’).
He subsequently had the chance to put music to lyrics by Jean-Loup Dabadie, Boris Bergman, Françoise Sagan and Jean Guidoni and, in 1981, he himself wrote the words for his album Attendre… which he also performed and composed. In America, Michel Legrand’s loyalty to Alan and Marilyn Bergman has given rise to scores of great numbers, usually theme songs (‘The Summer Knows’, ‘How Do You Keep the Music Playing?’, ‘The Way He Makes Me Feel’).
After more than 45 years of composing, Michel Legrand is more versatile than ever. Constantly on the lookout for new encounters and collaborations, he is an indefatigable inventor, refusing to establish a hierarchy between musical genres (“To my mind, a beautiful tango is worth more than some works by Wagner…”). He believes that composition is also an original means of introspection. “The way to make progress,” he declares, “is to be the only one who can create things that no one has ever thought of before. It’s also a way of finding out more about oneself. I want to be more aware of what I can do, even if it means going too far. If I want my ship to continue sailing the waves, I must try out new sails and see where they take me. Having said that, I am highly organized mentally, because of my classical education. I often work on several projects simultaneously. I spend three hours composing for a film, I play the piano for two hours, I finish a song. In fact, every job is a version of the previous one. Even so, music is still a never-ending set of equations that have to be solved. Sometimes, you think of an idea, you can picture it, you can already hear it. You rush over to the score to write it down, thinking of a priori that it’ll be simple and easy. Wrong! Umpteen obstacles suddenly appear: form, content, small details. Because, if you want to be original, every bar poses a problem.”
Also typical of Michel Legrand’s character is that he rejects the concept of a career: “I hate the idea of goals, results, limits. I’m an artist, not a politician. I’m motivated by life and by the richness and diversity of all kinds of music. Without forgetting that what’s really important is to remain a beginner. One of the most stimulating periods of your life is the time when you’re discovering things, when you’re learning. When you become too skilful, your spontaneity disappears, you’re no longer afraid of anything. I hope I never become someone whom people coolly describe as “very professional”. Throughout my life, I’ve always wanted to vary my musical pleasures, and to remain an eternal beginner, without ever rationalizing things in terms of a “career”. Stravinsky once said: “We insomniacs are always trying to find a cool spot on the pillow.” I’ve been searching endlessly for that spot for years!”
It is impossible to say everything there is to say about Michel Legrand in just a few lines, to describe his love of jazz, his historic sessions with Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Phil Woods or Stéphane Grapelli, his meetings with the big names in classical music (Kiri Te Kanawa, Jessye Norman, Maurice André) or pop (Yves Montand, Barbra Streisand, Charles Aznavour), to explain how he became a film producer (Cinq Jours en Juin) or chart the remarkable history of Passe-muraille, an opera buffa written with Didier Van Cauwelaert, which was on the bill at the Bouffes-Parisiens in Paris for a year, between 1997 and 1998. In any case, although he may still have some wonderful projects in store, Michel Legrand has already succeeded in meeting one singular challenge, that of living several lives in one lifetime.
Various Legrand compilations have been available on the international scene since the 1980s. But in 2001, Mercury/Universal finally got round to releasing an official Legrand anthology, summing up the versatile singer-composer-musician’s career. The year before, a major tribute was staged to Michel Legrand when a bevy of stars performed his classics at an open-air concert in the courtyard of the Louvre, as part of the annual Fête de la Musique. In 2003, Legrand received recognition at an even higher level, when he was presented with the “Légion d’honneur”. Showered with honors, music awards and Oscars, this formidable talent has never let fame go to his head or dull his prodigious artistic appetite.
In 2005, Universal Jazz released Le Cinéma de Michel Legrand, a boxed set compilation featuring Legrand’s best known film soundtracks. But Legrand himself appeared reluctant to focus on the past and was not involved in the production of this “greatest film hits”. The 4 CD set proved to be a veritable musical treasure trove, however, featuring 90 tracks composed in the course of Legrand’s 50-year career.
In June 2005, Legrand returned to the studio. This time round, it was not to compose his own work, however, but to pay tribute to his late friend and music colleague, the Toulousan singer Claude Nougaro (who died in 2004). Working with a number of leading jazz musicians and using tapes of Nougaro’s voice, Legrand recorded new versions of many of the «Little Bull’s» lesser-known songs, which they had written together over the course of various collaborations. The album Legrand Nougaro also included reworkings of Nougaro classics such as ‘Don Juan’, ‘Le Cinéma’ and ‘Le Rouge et le Noir’. The album, which proved to be more of a jazz extravaganza than a strictly <chanson’ affair, featured a special bonus, a new song entitled ‘Mon Dernier Concert’ (which Nougaro had written before his death but never recorded himself).
In 2006, Michel Legrand decided to team up with an A-list of names from the West End Theatre in London to create a new Musical, The Count of Monte Cristo, set to open in 2008; Don Black for the lyrics, Richard Bean for the book, directed by Lindsay Posner and produced by Andrew Fell Limited and City Lights Productions Limited. He will also open a second musical in London, entitled Marguerite.
In 2007, Michel Legrand went on a Canadian tour, and performed successfully on various stages in the United States and Russia.
by Stéphane Lerouge
