Jazz : French-English Ping-Pong Game for the Aldeberts

The Aldeberts, pianist Louis and his vocalist wife Monique, continue to display their unique brand of Gallic charm on the local scene. Friday evening they were at Drake’s Restaurant in Glendale.

The evening began with Louis Aldebert noodling quietly at a Yamaha electric keyboard. Monique moved to her mike about 20 minutes later to offer a laid-back treatment of “You Must Believe in Spring” by Michel Legrand, using the English lyrics by the Bergmans.

From that point on, it was a Ping-Pong game on two levels, back and forth between Monique singing and Louis humming a background or vice versa, and also between songs in French and English.

The Aldeberts’ most notable talent is their penchant for contrapuntal scatting. As composers they are responsible for such gently engaging works as “The Other Side of the Moon” and “Life’s a Mocking Bird,” as well as for the remarkable version of Chick Corea’s “La Fiesta” that was, in effect, trilingual: English, French and shoo-be-doo-be-doo.

Surprisingly, they even offered French versions of “Li’l Darlin’,” with French lyrics by Henri Salvador, and of “One-Note Samba” (lyrics by the Aldeberts).

The limitations of working as a duo will be assuaged when the Aldeberts open Sunday in the first of their series of afternoon sessions from 4-7 at the Westwood Marquis, where they will be joined by a series of guest soloists, starting with saxophonist Bob Sheppard, then followed on Sept. 30 by Justo Almario, also a reed virtuoso.