Monique Aldebert

Electronic instruments have forever changed the lives of Louis and Monique Aldebert. For a long time, the husband and wife pair worked mostly duo and trio gigs. He played piano and sang, she sang also, and they sounded, well, like two people singing. But the Aldeberts, who are both French and were both part of the famed Double Six of Paris vocal sextet in Europe in the late '50s and early '60s, wanted more voices in their presentation.

Electronic instruments have forever changed the lives of Louis and Monique Aldebert. For a long time, the husband and wife pair worked mostly duo and trio gigs. He played piano and sang, she sang also, and they sounded, well, like two people singing. But the Aldeberts, who are both French and were both part of the famed Double Six of Paris vocal sextet in Europe in the late '50s and early '60s, wanted more voices in their presentation.

The husband-and-wife jazz duo of Monique and Louis Aldebert returned from a break during a recent set and found two long-stemmed red roses on top of their piano--a gesture from an anonymous patron that underscores the champagne ambience the talented Franco-American couple bring to the room. Monique Aldebert, the vocalist, and pianist/arranger/singer Louis Aldebert are pumping glamour and cool cocktail jazz, mixed with Gallic and Brazilian beats, into Encino's night life at the Marquis Encino.

Almost 18 years have passed since Louis and Monique Aldebert, having moved to Los Angeles, developed their unique vocal duo sound and built their bilingual backlog of original songs. At Alfonse's Thursday evening they offered evidence that although mass popularity has eluded them, they have not compromised.

John Pisano, a jazz guitarist who wrote some minor hits while a member of Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass in the '60s and later worked with jazz guitar great Joe Pass, loves his chosen instrument. "The guitar fascinates me," Pisano said. "There are so many directions you can go. There's always something to do, something to learn." If there's one thing Pisano cares about as much as picking up a guitar, it's listening to colleagues play it.

It was very quiet at Drake's Restaurant in downtown Glendale a Thursday or so ago, as guitarist Sid Jacobs and bassist Ken Filiano reached the middle of their second set. Customers occupied only three of the room's 10 green Naugahyde booths, and there were only a few patrons at the small bar. And the customers hardly spoke above a whisper, if they spoke at all. You might not have been able to hear a pin drop, but it was close.