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Jacques Loussier

Jacques Loussier was born in Angers, in northwestern France, October 26, 1934. He started playing piano at the age of ten and quickly demonstrated tremendous ability. When Loussier was just sixteen, he entered the Conservatoire Nationale de Musique in Paris where he studied with Professor Yves Nat whose youthful compositions were praised by Faure and Saint-Saëns, and whose prodigious gifts as a pianist were encouraged by Debussy. Continuing this distinguished lineage, Loussier was to become one of Nat’s most accomplished pupils, heading the conservatory’s piano class of over five hundred students before leaving to commence a freelance career that included travels to South America and the Middle East as well as work as accompanist for Catherine Sauvage and Charles Aznavour.

In 1959, Loussier hit upon the idea that was to make his international reputation, combining his interest in jazz with his love of J.S. Bach. Only a pianist with such an exceptional classical technique and deft improvisatory skill could have nurtured such a vision. He founded the Play Bach Trio, which used Bach’s compositions as the basis for jazz improvisation. The trio immediately caught the public imagination. In their live appearances, tours and concerts, plus a succession of recordings built on the cornerstone of four albums made for Decca between 1960 and 1963, Loussier’s group achieved a breakthrough to popular commercial success enjoyed by only a select few jazz musicians. In fifteen years, the trio sold over six million albums.

During its heyday, the trio broadened the range of its experiments with Loussier double tracking some pieces on organ and piano and, later, recording some of his arrangements of Bach’s concerti with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. However, after years on the road, like many popular commercial groups, the original trio reached the end of its natural life in 1978. In 1980, Loussier retired to his home in Provence to compose, research and record. He had already dabbled in film and ballet composition, and had established his own recording studio at Miraval, not far from Nice, where in addition to composing his own pieces for acoustic and electronic instruments, he played host to many recording stars of the rock world including Pink Floyd, Elton John, Sting and Yes. In fact, segments of Pink Floyd’s The Wall were recorded at Loussier’s studio.

Loussier’s own music in the 1980s explored the integration of new technology with conventional instruments, just as his 1950s experiments explored the ground between jazz and classics. He produced suites for piano, synthesizers, percussion and bass, and some rock-jazz-classical fusion works including Pulsions, Pagan Moon and Fusions Sous La Mer.

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167
Album Review

Jacques Loussier Trio: Bach: The Brandenburgs

Read "Bach: The Brandenburgs" reviewed by Jim Santella


With his trio, pianist Jacques Loussier has interpreted classical works in a straight-ahead jazz setting for over four decades. He made quite an impression in 1960 with the Play Bach Trio and has never looked back. Newer trios have developed under his direction, letting the practice of reinterpreting classical music in a jazz vein grow prolifically.

The music of J.S. Bach has much in common with modern jazz. There's considerable freedom, changes in mood and tempo, and a ...

128
Album Review

Jacques Loussier: Allegretto From Symphony No. 7: Themes And Variations

Read "Allegretto From Symphony No. 7: Themes And Variations" reviewed by Mark Sabbatini


Oh, the joys of depressing music.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 is one of the finest “downer" compositions ever and a collection of jazz variations on it seems like a can't-miss prospect. The base material is so strong it's like a prime steak--hard to go wrong no matter how it's treated (unless, egad, someone boils it).

Pianist Jacques Loussier has spent more than forty years playing classical variations, so there's little chance of Allegretto From Symphony No. ...

129
Album Review

The Jacques Loussier Trio: Handel

Read "Handel" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


The finest in Jazz interpretation of the Classical Canon...

Classical music adapted to the jazz medium is nothing new. Pianist Uri Caine spent much of the past four years doing so with the music of Wagner, Schumann, Bach, and Mahler . Currently, the Classical Jazz Quartet (comprised of Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, Stefon Harris, and Lewis Nash) has released two recordings interpreting classical pieces, The Classical Jazz Quartet Plays Bach and The Nutcracker . But long before all of these, ...

299
Album Review

Jacques Loussier: Bach's Goldberg Variations

Read "Bach's Goldberg Variations" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Jacques Loussier and his trio are back once again, interpreting the music of Johann Sebastian Bach in this new release on the Telarc label entitled Bach's Goldberg Variations. I had high praise for Loussier in my reviews of his two previous Telarc releases; Bolero and The Bach Book. In the history books, Loussier will certainly be looked upon as a major figure in the development of the genre crossover; his 1959 album Play Bach Trio may have been the first ...

145
Album Review

Jacques Loussier: The Four Seasons

Read "The Four Seasons" reviewed by Douglas Payne


For nearly four decades now, French pianist and composer Jacques Loussier has been issuing peerless jazz versions of Bach's multifaceted music. Although that may sound like a novelty (remember Bachbusters?), Loussier understands both idioms well and is partial to no one particular genre, as he also includes touches of rock and the avant-garde in his style too. Loussier makes a successful case for defining music as simply music without pigeonholing it into genre. He often conjures images of John Lewis ...

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73

Performance / Tour

Jacques Loussier La Jolla Music Society SummerFest

Jacques Loussier La Jolla Music Society SummerFest

Source: All About Jazz

Jacques Loussier's Two Musical Loves Bend, Blend in Unique Ways He calls himself the “grandfather of crossover music," and tomorrow, veteran French jazz pianist/composer Jacques Loussier presents his latest example, “Divertimento," at La Jolla Music Society SummerFest. “I am unable to say whether it is jazz or classical - it is simply music," says Loussier, 73, in charmingly accented English. “Every time I play it, it will be different. That is the good thing about improvisation. You never get bored ...

157

Music Industry

New discs from Dave Brubeck and Jacques Loussier due October 23

New discs from Dave Brubeck and Jacques Loussier due October 23

Source: All About Jazz

THE CROSSING, pianist Dave Brubeck's twelfth Telarc release, is inspired by his affinity for world travel and the wealth of experiences that come with it. The nine tracks represent the cross-fertilization of cultures at the core of all great art. Now in the eighth decade of his life, Brubeck remains one of the most prolific and influential jazz artists of any generation. An innovator since his earliest recordings, Brubeck has spent most of his life gathering and mastering an infinite ...

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