Jacques Loussier Dsd

TAKE BACH is another in the history of recordings which treat the music of Bach in an experimental way. The approach of the Jacques Loussier Trio with pianists Güher and Süher Pekinel is one of melding Bach's concerti into jazz pieces through arrangement and improvisation. The idea is logical, as Baroque music is based often on a "figured bass," or set of symbols which the instrumentalist of the time (usually a keyboard player) would know how to interpret and build chords based upon the performance aspects of the time.

Jacques Loussier, of course, moved on from ''Play Bach'' a long time ago, although the wider musical audience no doubt has little recollection of him away from that context. Yet the pianist always had a rigorous intellectual grasp of his musical ends and means, even when the average album by his group was capable of selling half a million copies. In a sense, Bach was never the focal point of his musical discourses, although the great man's music remained the bedrock of Loussier's questings.

When Jacques Loussier gave the music of Johann Sebastian Bach the jazz treatment (as others, notably the Modern Jazz Quartet, had before him), it worked really well. The tumbling flow of Bach's contrapuntal lines, the square rhythms that just beg to be played with a swing feel - everything about Bach that makes his music the farthest thing from jazz seems to make jazz adaptations inevitable. The French composer Claude Debussy is a less obvious choice, and on this album you see why. Debussy was a much more impressionistic composer, and his music doesn't have either the rhythmic vitality or the sense of driving tonal logic that fuels the music of Bach. That makes it harder to fit his compositions into a jazz context. That Loussier succeeds as much as he does is a compliment to his sensitivity as a pianist and to his trio's ability to work with him intuitively…

Released in 2003, Allegretto from Symphony No. 7, Theme and Variations features pianist Loussier in a trifecta alongside bassist Ben Dunoyer de Segonzac and drummer André Arpino interpreting ten variations on the Allegretto portion of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. For those unfamiliar, the term Allegretto (translated as "rather fast") refers to the composition's tempo, encompassing a speed of less than 120 but exceeding 108 measures per minute. As he had done in prior outings that incorporated the respective works of Bach, Debussy, and Handel, among others, Loussier approaches the composition with an ear toward the third stream, blending classical pieces to a decidedly jazz orientation.

Jacques Loussier has spent most of his career blending jazz and classical styles into a lightly swinging and highly melodic hybrid. He is most well-known for tackling Bach, but here he covers a range of Baroque composers. Loussier, bassist Benoit Dunoyer De Segonzac, and drummer Andre Arpino play pieces by Handel, Pachabel, Scarlatti, Marcello, Albinoni, and Marias. Loussier has a very light touch and the trio is laid-back, never distracting from the melodies. You can hear the influence of Dave Brubeck in Loussier's playing (especially on Marais' "La Sonnerie de Sainte-Geneviève du Mont"), and much like Brubeck's best work, there is a strong sense of warmth and intelligence on Baroque Favorites. The only complaint one might have is that the brevity of some of the songs breaks up the flow of the record. Nevertheless, Baroque Favorites is a very nice album.

Jacques Loussier - Play Bach Highlights (2008)
compilation of tracks from 1959-65
EAC | FLAC tracks +CUE +LOG +600 dpi Full Scans = 381 Mb | RAR 3% | RS
Genre: Jazz | Label: Verve Records | Catalog Number: 06007 5312038

Groundbreaking work from pianist Jacques Loussier – a hip mix of jazz music and classical themes that set a whole new standard for the 60s! Loussier's a very dynamic pianist who's clearly got classical roots – but he also manages to make these older tunes swing with a good degree of jazz-based energy – working with bassist Pierre Michelot and drummer Christian Garros, in a trio setting that brings plenty of modern moments to compositions by Joahan Sebastian Bach! This well-selected CD features 15 tracks pulled from the first five Play Bach albums by Jacques – titles that include "Fantasia In C Minor", "Choral No 1", "Toccata & Fugue In D Minor", "Prelude No 1 In C Major", "Aria", "Gigue", "Italian Concerto In F Major Allegro", and "Fugue No 2 In C Minor".

Live concert in celebration of Loussier's 70th birthday. In performance in Bach's 'own' church, St Thomas's in Leipzig. A rare example of a commercially successful jazz artist. In fifteen years, the Jacquees Loussier trio sold over six million albums. Bonus feature: Jacques Loussier in Conversation…