I was on my way to Geneva for some meetings. Next to me on the plane sat a musician. We started a game of chess... all the musicians play chess! It was such a beautiful game... We continued it in the airport, all day, without eating or drinking. We didn't go to any of our appointments... When the plane landed at Roissy in the evening, the game was over. A sublime journey!<\/p>\n
Another, quite the opposite... That was about twelve years ago. I had a contract with Steinway, who make the most beautiful pianos in the world! One day, its director invited me to take part in a Steinway cruise on the Queen Elizabeth II, with other pianists. For five days, classical music, jazz... A few hours after departure, the boat started to move. Wind force 6, then 8, then 9! The waves were 15 metres high. It's night time. Such a storm! General panic on board... Yes, just like on the Titanic! The four brand new pianos smashed against the walls. I thought we were all going to die... The boat finally changed course and docked a few hours later. All the radios were announcing \"the Queen Elizabeth II is sinking! Our families and friends thought we were all gone!<\/p>\n
I like cruises... I did several on the France, renamed Norway, in the Caribbean. The person who managed the bookings in Miami became a friend. When I was tired, I'd call her up: \"Where's your boat?\" Once on board, I'd go to the casino! There's not much to do on these liners. Oh yes, there is! I remember a ma\u00eetre d' asking me what we wanted for dinner the next day: \"...anything, we've got it.\"<\/p>\n
I'm lucky enough to stay in great hotels. The Warwick Hotel in New York is one of them... At 4 o'clock in the morning, I go home and ask the doorman for my key. I go upstairs, open the door, turn on the light, and in my bed: a man! He suddenly gets up, puts his hands in the air and shouts, \"Don't shoot!\" \"We're sorry,\" I'm told. We thought you had gone; and now the hotel is full...\" This allowed me to stay for three weeks free of charge in the most beautiful suite at the Warwick!<\/p>\n
When I travel, of course, I meet people. Through my job, I met Barbra Streisand, an extraordinary woman. She wanted to make an album in French... I met her in New York. It was in her dressing room that we started working on her album. In another style, I met Fidel Castro at a big concert in Cuba about ten years ago. I found him... tall and bearded! And funny too! He asked me what I thought of him: \"You're a great actor...\" I said. \"What?\" he replied. I hastened to add: \"...in front of history!\"<\/p>\n
Interview by Karin Filhoulaud<\/p>\n
1932: Born in B\u00e9con-les-Bruy\u00e8res.<\/p>\n
1949: Leaves the Conservatoire de Musique.<\/p>\n
1954: Columbia EMI commissioned him to record a series of French songs that would make him a star.<\/p>\n
1955 First soundtrack for Henri Verneuil's \"Les amants du Tage\".<\/p>\n
1958: In New York, he played with jazz greats such as Miles Davis.<\/p>\n
1964: Soundtrack for \"Les Parapluies de Cherbourg\". He also became a singer.<\/p>\n
1980: -1990 Devotes these years to jazz, with his trio and then his big band.<\/p>\n
2005: Release of the album Legrand Nougaro.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was on my way to Geneva for some meetings. Next to me on the plane sat a musician. We started a game of chess... all the musicians play chess! It was such a beautiful game... We continued it in the airport, all day, without eating or drinking. We didn't go to any of our [...]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[1005],"type-darticle":[],"n_magazine":[],"class_list":["post-1265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations-affaires","tag-carnet-de-voyages","vapo-free"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n