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Disc: 1
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1. Air on a G String
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2. Fugue No. 5 in D major
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3. Pastorale in C minor
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4. Prelude No. 1 in C major from the Well-Tempered Clavier
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5. Toccata and Fugue in D minor
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6. Italian Concerto: Allegro
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7. Italian Concerto: Andante
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8. Italian Concerto: Presto
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9. Partita in E major
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10. Chorale No. 1 Sleepers Awake
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11. Toccata and Fugue in C major: Overture
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12. Toccata and Fugue in C major: Adagio
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13. Toccata and Fugue in C major: Fugue
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Disc: 2
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1. Siciliana in G minor
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2. Concerto in C minor: Allegro
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3. Little Fugue in G minor
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4. Concerto in F minor: Allegro
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5. Concerto in F minor: Largo
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6. Concerto in F minor: Presto
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7. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
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8. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major: Allegro
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9. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major: Affettuoso
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10. Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major: Allegro
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11. Goldberg Variations: Aria*
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12. Goldberg Variations: Variation 2*
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13. Goldberg Variations: Variation 5*
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14. Goldberg Variations: Variation 25*
Jacques Loussier (piano),Vincent Charbonnier (bass), André Arpino (drums) *Benoit Dunoyer de Segonzac (bass) replaces Vincent Charbonnier
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2 discs [72:10] [65:14]
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In Alyn Shipton’s extremely interesting and keenly observed booklet notes he chronicles the way in which jazz was viewed in the 1950s when, as he explains,
colleges and concert halls had notices on their pianos warning that they were “not to be used for jazz”.
I well remember the first time I heard a Jacques Loussier Play Bach disc and, being a purist myself at the time I was rather sniffy about anyone
playing around with classical music despite the fact that I had recently discovered jazz. I soon changed my mind recognising his innovative view and
appreciating the ‘new’ sound that emerged from his brilliantly creative mind. Since then I have come to glory in one of the superlative examples of
‘crossover’ that has ever been. The thing I find totally unique about Jacques Loussier’s masterful interpretations is that his understanding of the source
material is so total, as well as reverential, that he creates something magical that serves to deliver a result that adds to the original rather than in
any way detracting from it. Loussier was without a shadow of a doubt the groundbreaking pathfinder when it comes to today’s world in which the strict
boundaries between classical, jazz, world and folk music have been blurred and each genre can, at times, be found woven into the fabric of the other
without it being considered incongruous.
In common with many other great jazz musicians Jacques Loussier had a classical training during which he decided that Bach must have had some vision of the
future in which he anticipated the roots of jazz since he felt that “jazz flowed naturally from Bach’s music”. There is no doubt as one listens to these
two discs of Loussier’s personal favourites, released in a suitably glossy package to celebrate his 80th birthday year, that his contention has
considerable weight since everything Loussier does with Bach’s music seems entirely natural, never forced or artificial.
From the Air on a G String made famous in Britain by a long running series of adverts for a certain small, mild cigar (1966-1997), the mellifluous
sounds wrought by Loussier and his trio immediately conjure up what seems in retrospect to have been a less troubled past. Every work Loussier chose to
fashion in his inimitable style seems perfectly suited to it but for me there are still some standout moments, one of which has to be the Italian Concerto which includes some truly fabulous pianism on Loussier’s part, particularly in the opening Allegro though the trio is
such a naturally integrated unit it almost ‘speaks with one voice’. These recordings feature, for the most part, the second incarnation of his trio with
Vincent Charbonnier on bass and André Arpino on drums while the Goldberg Variations has Benoit Dunoyer de Segonzac his replacement for
Charbonnier, occasioned by Charbonnier’s stroke which ended his playing career. It is remarkable that that change means that, together with Loussier
himself, there have only ever been six members of the trio since its inception in 1959 (the original bassist was Pierre Michelot and the drummer Christian
Garros). In such a long career Loussier has inevitably changed and developed so that while his original trio played the music of Bach in a relatively
straightforward way, over time a greater element of improvisation has become important and Charbonnier’s bass with its beautifully ‘walking’ character
developing a real dialogue with the piano. Mention should be made of the wonderfully consistent playing of André Arpino whose drumming is superbly measured
(listen to the closing minutes of the Allegro from the Brandenburg Concerto No.5 as a scintillating example) while Benoit Dunoyer de
Segonzac has brought yet another layer to the table as witnessed by the above mentioned Goldberg Variations.
Jacques Loussier’s creative mind could see that it was not only Bach whose music is especially suited to being viewed through a jazz prism but that other
composers too could have their music given the Loussier treatment and since the late 1990s there have been a steady release of discs by the trio of the
music of Vivaldi, Satie, Ravel, Debussy, Handel, Chopin, Mozart and Schumann and his discography totals almost 50 recordings. Today it would indeed take a
philistine who would deny that Loussier’s reinventions of these great composer’s works are themselves something of a miracle that show a deep love and
understanding of the original works and are of equally lasting value. Any Loussier fan will want to acquire this set and if there are any who have still
not discovered him they could do no better than do so through it; they will surely be totally won over by the wealth of brilliance on display and some
genuinely fabulous music that transcends genre description.
Steve Arloff
CD Reviews
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