Jazz pianist Michel Legrand has collaborated with a bevy of beauties whose rich vocals have fascinated the mind and aroused the passion to love including Sarah Vaughan and Lena Horne. His current collaboration with Japanese-based vocalist Charito leaves audiences feeling like they have experienced the bliss that only heaven can provide. Their tracks on Watch What Happens from CT Music is torchlight jazz at its finest recalling an elegance that is synonymous with Rosie Carlino and a striking presence that meets Nancy Wilson’s level of enchantment. These songs will seep their way into your mind and rock you into a dreamy state of existence tantamount to being in love.

The rumba sways of the title track and “How Do You Keep The Music Playing” are mesmerizing as Charito’s vocals swerve and sashay gracefully across the melodic channels. The wavy movements of the string arrangements on “The First Time” are delightful, and the twittering of Legrand’s piano keys on “Summer Me, Winter Me” are pleasantly agitated creating a flurry of wicked tremors. The twinkly in the bossa nova rhythms of “Ask Yourself Why” incite a moment of reflection as the torchlight flickers of “The Windmills of Your Mind” and “The Summer Knows” encircle the listener in a sentimental mood. The upbeat strokes of Charito’s vocals in “I Will Wait For You” are supported by the bumpy beating of the bass and the silky showers of the piano keys. The chorus-line kicks in the rhythmic patterns of “Quant On S’Aime” are beautifully twined around Charito’s vocals as the minuets of Legrand’s scat shuffles provide streaks of excitement in the track, while the sensual twirls of the horns in “What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life” cast the number in a tranquil ambience with a torchlight glimmer.

Watch What Happens shares Charito and Legrand’s image of how beautiful these soft-swing standards can sound in their hands. The duo attains a slice of heaven in these tracks that audiences will be drawn to and reluctant to leave. The peace and beauty that Charito and Michel Legrand create is so attractive that at times it feels as though they have resurrected the ‘50s era of classic jazz helmed by the likes of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, and that is a very honorable trait to have in one’s talent bank..