Why this tune?
It’s officially spring, and so time for songs of the spring season. This is one of the loveliest spring songs I know. Michel Legrand and Jacques Demy wrote it as “La chanson de Maxence” for the 1967 film “Les Demoiselles de Rochefort.” Alan and Marilyn Bergman wrote new English lyrics for the song, recorded first by Marlena Shaw in 1972. Many vocal and instrumental versions followed.
Like many other songs of spring, it’s not really about the season at all, but uses spring as a metaphor for believing in the promise of a better future. The message is clear in the first verse, which ends:
Beneath the deepest snows
The secret of a rose
Is merely that it knows
You must believe in spring
There are almost 400 recordings of the song, with and without vocals. Bill Evans recorded two iconic versions, an instrumental with his trio and a vocal version with singer Tony Bennett. I’m going to keep working on it – like other Michel Legrand songs, it has many melodic and harmonic depths to explore.
Tunes On Tuesday Reel
Check it out!
Bill Evans Trio
Bill Evans and Tony Bennett
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 