As a jazz pianist he made his debuts alongside Boris Vian and Serge Gainsbourg, and then showed himself to be an arranger of genius, and also a skilled composer of film music. Alain Goraguer has since become an unavoidable icon for French music in the second half of the 20th century. This 3CD retrospective compiled by Olivier Julien concentrates on the composer’s early years, throwing light on the first recordings (made either under his own name or a pseudonym) of a world freed from its “chanson” and “jazz” identities. Patrick FRÉMEAUX