Fran Landesman is still the poet laureate of lovers and losers: her songs are the secret diaries of the desperate and the decadent. No one can convey the bitter-sweet joys of melancholy or the exhilaration of living on the edge like Fran.

The jazz world's answer to Dorothy Parker, New York born lyricist Fran Landesman's acid wit and penetrating insights first emerged in her 1950s collaborations with composer Tommy Wolf. Songs such as “Spring Can Hang You Up The Most” and “The Ballad Of The Sad Young Men” were picked up by Jackie and Roy and soon became standards boasting recordings by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand and Sarah Vaughn. Nearly half a century later Fran's lyrics are sharper and more perceptive than ever. She now lives in London and for the past 9 years has been witing superbly crafted songs with the eclectic, Welsh born, world travelled composer Simon Wallace. Music and lyrics work together to create a tough, witty, ironic expression of contemporary love and life in songs that caress the heart and remain in the head long after the music is over.

Sarah Moule “Its A Nice Thought” (Linn Records AKD 192)
“If the Algonquin Round Table had made a record this would be it” Toby Young

Nicki Leighton-Thomas “Forbidden Games” (Candid Records CCD 79778)
“a set of delectable songs sung with wit ...the epitome of hip” The Observer

Fran Landesman’s new songs with Simon Wallace have also been recorded by
Susannah McCorkle and Ian Shaw.

Fran Landesman and Simon Wallace
"Together they make an imposing team"
The Times