Portuguese singer Paula Oliveira and Geneva-based pianist Léo Tardin met in Lisbon in 2005 while recording an album of Carnation Revolution songs for Universal Music, arranged for jazz quintet.

Speaking to a whole generation of Portuguese who had lived through this pivotal moment in their democracy, « Lisboa Que Adormece » was a major commercial and critical success, allowing the group to tour throughout Portugal for two years, including Madeira and the Azores.

Two more albums followed in 2007 and 2010 for the same record company, again exploring Portuguese musical culture (this time fados and folk songs) rearranged in a jazz quintet setting. Then, in 2021, they released an album on a small independent label, setting poems by Nobel laureate José Saramago to music composed by Paula Oliveira.

For these four albums and most of the subsequent concerts, Paula called upon Léo as pianist in the groups she had formed. Their shared sensibilities and desire to explore the essence of their musical connection naturally led Léo and Paula to conceive a new project, this time in the intimate format of a duo.

The chosen repertoire focuses on songs by legendary composer Michel Legrand, who wrote some of the most beautiful film scores from the golden age of a certain kind of European and American cinema.

All the nostalgic expressiveness of Portuguese culture and Leo’s subtle harmonies is conveyed here through a reinterpretation of Legrand’s songs, presented for the first time with Portuguese lyrics.

This project is completed by duo reinterpretations of pieces from previous repertoires, notably the album of poems by Saramago and a few tracks from the earlier albums.