Legrand Affair

Few projects convey the sense of scale, ambition and passion as Melissa Errico's 'Legrand Affair.' Literally years in the making, this improbable endeavor has become a reality. 'Legrand Affair' is a collection of songs written by the legendary Michel Legrand, performed by Errico with a 100-piece symphony orchestra in Brussels, and produced by Phil Ramone. Their goal was to juxtapose something enormous with something intimateto create epic, larger-than-life, cinematic artbut at the same time, make it feel akin to the most sensual kiss you've ever experienced.

The story behind the making of the album (which will feature a range of classic Legrand compositions as well as new material written for Melissa by Legrand with Alan and Marilyn Bergman) is as sweeping as the final product. As seen in Errico's detailed 'Musing' essay, linked below, the process sounds more like a James Bond film than a trip to the recording studio, and indeed it wasthe epic journey included stops in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Brussels, Switzerland, Normandy, Andorra, Toronto, Costa Brava and a listening session while flying over the Pyrenees to Spain, with Legrand himself piloting a private plane. Errico even had three children over the course of the six years it took to see 'Legrand Affair' to completion, but recognizes it was all worth the wait: "I'm proud to have gotten it to the place it was always meant to be, in honor of Michel Legrand who I love and respect beyond words."

The album was Co-Produced by Richard Jay-Alexander, Errico's concert director, close collaborator and longtime friend (responsible for casting Errico as Cosette in the first national touring company of Les Miserables, when she was an 18 year-old freshman at Yale.) 'Legrand Affair' marks Errico's fourth collaboration with Ghostlight Records. She appeared on the label's Finian's Rainbow' recording, as well as on their Broadway cast album of Michel Legrand's 'Amour' and the re-issue of her solo album "Lullabies and Wildflowers."