Michel Legrand Et Son Orchestre - Archi-Cordes (2009)

At the dawn of the 60’s, well before pop’s ascensionnotes along with its given extravagances, a few turbulent arrangers and other exceptionally gifted orchestrators were already attempting out of the ordinary musical experiences, amusing themselves by using major orchestras in a fully-fledged laboratory capacity. They would do so by using stereophonic effects, exotic percussion and alternatively played instruments to give their compositions strange colours and audacious perspectives. Michel Legrand, a rapidly rising young composer at this time and breaking with the most complex writing techniques, was part of this generation of untamed conductors with very big ideas within which included a wide array of personalities from Esquival, Les Baxter and Lalo Schifrin to Quincy Jones.

This fabulous record, with its killer energy was rediscovered for the first time during the easy listening revival of 1996, via the seminal English compilation “In Flight” which included 2 tracks. “Archi-cordes”, is a measure of Legrand’s excess and craziness which destroys everything in its path and embodies a sumptuous collection of instrumentals that are born and bred for the dancefloor. Fevered twist, jerk, hully gully and Latin jazz light an unprecedented rhythmic fire which steps up to incessantly kindle attacks of tempestuous chords, while flashes of blinding scat shoot through this musical inferno, reminding us of Legrand’s love of jazz. Subtitled: “Di-gue- ding-ding…danse,” this cult opus is a fantastic declaration of love for all that is rhythm, dance and movement.

En 1964, Michel Legrand n'était pas encore ce vieux con qui fêtait ses 50 ans de carrière avec ses amis Patrick Fiori ou Hélène Ségara à Pleyel mais un jeune compositeur surdoué et provocateur capable de sortir ce tonitruant et décomplexé Archi-cordes.
Rythmiques de folie, cordes en furie, twist, jazz, jerk, exotica… tout ici est passé au mixeur Legrand pour un résultat d'une hallucinante modernité.
Devenu culte et introuvable (ceci expliquant cela !) Vadim Music a l'excelente initiative de rééditer ce chef d'oeuvre d'easy listenning survitaminée.
Petit bémol toutefois : cette réédition sera disponible uniquement en vinyle donc pour les puristes…

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