JazzTimes is honored to premiere a new version of the Michel Legrand classic “The Windmills of Your Mind,” performed by Harold López-Nussa. The track will appear on the Cuban pianist’s upcoming album Te lo Dije, which is scheduled to be released August 28 on Mack Avenue Records.
Accompanying López-Nussa are his brother Ruy Adrián López-Nussa on drums, Julio César González on bass, and special guest Vincent Peirani on accordion. Other performers on Te lo Dije—which blends Afro-Cuban and modern jazz with the contemporary sounds of songo and reggaeton—include trumpeter Mayquel González and three vocalists: Afro-Cuban funk superstar Cimafunk, Randy Malcom of reggaeton band Gente de Zona, and Kelvis Ochoa, a longtime López-Nussa collaborator.
Written for Norman Jewison’s 1968 film musical The Thomas Crown Affair, “The Windmills of Your Mind” won Legrand and lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman an Academy Award for Best Original Song. López-Nussa decided to record the song in tribute to Legrand, who died last year. He comments: “My link with France is very strong; my grandmother, who was French, loved the music of Ravel, Debussy, Erik Satie. She knew all about it, and made us learn French songs: Piaf, Brassens, Brel, as well as music and movies. My mother adored Les parapluies de Cherbourg [The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Jacques Demy’s 1964 musical film for which Legrand wrote the score]. I attended a concert by Michel Legrand in Havana; since that day I wished to play his music. This is the first time I have included a composition by a French composer on an album; I’ve always wanted to make an album with only French songs. Besides, it is a great pleasure to work with Vincent Peirani, who is one of the French musicians that I love. Certainly we will work together again. That’s why this song is so special to me.”
