Why this tune?
I thought this week’s tune “Once Upon a Summertime” was a fine way to mark the end of the season in Los Angeles, where I’m located at present, preparing to record my next album here in a couple of weeks. It was the first hit for the legendary composer Michel Legrand, who won three Oscars for his film music, including many songs that have become pop and jazz standards. Dan Fortune reports that Blossom Dearie played the French original, “La valse des lilas,” for Johnny Mercer, who was inspired to write an English lyric for Legrand’s tune, which Blossom soon recorded in 1959. Over 200 recordings have followed, with and without the English or French lyrics.
Legrand started his long collaboration with Alan and Marilyn Bergman in 1968, writing songs for The Thomas Crown Affair. When I had the opportunity to meet Alan Bergman in 2024, he mentioned that he still had several Legrand melodies in a drawer waiting for lyrics.
Legrand passed away in 2019. Marilyn Bergman passed in 2022, and we lost Alan in 2025.