Listen To:


Selected MP3s of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, and classic easy listening from the original vinyl.

Welcome to Guitars & All That Jazz

Welcome to Guitars & All That Jazz

Guitars & All That Jazz was a radio station that webcast via Live365 for 11 years, ending in June 2011. The playlist consisted of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, early rock 'n' roll, lounge music and classic easy listening.

I hope to share some of this music with you via this blog. Most of it will be taken from the original vinyl (LPs and 45s) , cassettes and the occasional commercially unavailable CD.

Here's hoping you'll find something to enjoy. Please note files are available only for a limited time.

I urge you to purchase the digital version of the albums featured, either on CD or via download, wherever possible.

Listen to the Music
There are now two music streams. Click the appropriate player to the right.
1. Guitars & All That Jazz: Five hours of the best in jazz, guitars and other instrumental gems. New songs are added weekly.
2. Tiki Shores: Music to sweep you away to a tropical isle, a South American dance floor or a bossa nova on the beach at Rio. About 4.5 hours of classic exotica music, Latin rhythms and bossa nova.
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Thursday, October 09, 2014

Michel Legrand - I Love Movies


Most people know Michel Legrand for his popular movie scores (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Thomas Crown Affair, Summer of '42) and the hit songs from them (I Will Wait for You, The Windmills of Your Mind, Theme from Summer of '42). Yet his first love is jazz and he began his recording career with a series of best-selling instrumental albums for Columbia.

The success of I Love Paris in 1954 spawned a dozen or more LPs in a similar vein -- Holiday in Rome, Castles in Spain, Legrand in Rio, etc. Legrand apparently did not benefit financially from the popularity of the albums. He was paid a flat session fee for the recording sessions that took place in his native France.

I Love Movies came along in 1958. The movie themes therein were mostly well known, but there were several from French movies that may not have been familiar to North Americans.

The standard Cheek to Cheek was written by Irving Berlin for the 1935 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers movie Top Hat. Astaire's recording of the song with Leo Reisman's orchestra was deemed to be the top hit of the year. Here's Legrand's version.

Cheek to Cheek



I can't begin to sort out the bewildering array of download versions of Legrand's Columbia recordings. Most, if not all, are the usual European out-of-copyright releases that should be approached with caution. As far as I can determine the tracks from I Love Movies are not available in a digital format.

On CD you should look for Legrand Piano: I Love Paris released by Sony in 1990 and available for under $5 on Amazon. There's also a release from Polygram in Europe of what is undoubtedly Legrand's finest Columbia recording, Legrand Jazz, with the participation of the likes of Miles Davis, Ben Webster and Hank Jones. There are plenty of cheap copies on Amazon and elsewhere. Make sure you get the Polygram release as there are also out-of-copyright versions floating around.

Here's something else from I Love Movies.


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