Dreams to Remember

FTEN IT FEELS LIKE THE SOUNDTRACK TO THE international film landscape of the ’60s and ’70s was provided entirely by Michel Legrand. Along with Georges Delerue and Louis Malle, Legrand—who died in January at age 86—was one of the rare figures associated with the French New Wave to parlay his skills into an influential career in the United States. In the ’50s, the classically trained but jazzhungry Bécon-les-Bruyères-born pianist had proven himself a popular arranger and recording artist, working with Edith Piaf, Yves Montand, and, most memorably, Miles Davis, with whom he recorded the 1958 album (a gift of sorts from Columbia Records, who had lapsed on some payments and as recompense promised Legrand an album with the artist of his choosing). By the end of the decade, he had scored some films, but when Jacques Demy hired him to compose for, Legrand set off on a new career path.