Jacques Loussier facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jacques Loussier
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Loussier in 2004
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| Background information | |
| Born | 26 October 1934 Angers, France |
| Died | 5 March 2019 (aged 84) Blois, France |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts | Jacques Loussier Trio |
Jacques Loussier (born October 26, 1934 – died March 5, 2019) was a talented French pianist and composer. He became famous for mixing classical music with jazz. He took well-known pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and gave them a jazz twist.
His group, the Jacques Loussier Trio, started in 1959. They performed over 3,000 concerts and sold more than 7 million albums. Most of these albums featured their jazz versions of Bach's music. Loussier also wrote music for movies and several classical pieces. His unique style is called third stream music. This means it's a blend of jazz and classical music. He especially focused on making up music on the spot.
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Early life and musical start
Jacques Loussier was born in Angers, France, on October 26, 1934. He began taking piano lessons when he was ten years old. When he was eleven, he heard a piece from Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.
In an interview from 2003, he said he loved that piece. He also enjoyed adding his own notes to the music. He liked to change the harmonies and play around with the melodies. At age 13, he met a famous pianist named Yves Nat in Paris. Nat gave him music projects to work on for three months at a time.
His musical journey
Loussier started writing his own music while studying in Paris. He attended the Conservatoire National Musique. He was about 16 years old when he moved there to study with Yves Nat. During a competition at the conservatory, he was playing a Bach piece. When he forgot part of it, he simply made up the rest. He later explained that this was a common practice. Many musicians in the 1700s, including Bach, were great at improvising.
To pay for his studies, Loussier played jazz in bars around Paris. Mixing Bach's classical music with jazz was very new at that time. After six years of studying, he traveled to the Middle East and Latin America. He found new musical ideas and sounds there. He even lived in Cuba for a year.
The Jacques Loussier Trio
Early in his career, Loussier played piano for singers like Charles Aznavour. In 1959, he formed the Jacques Loussier Trio. He played piano, Pierre Michelot played the bass, and Christian Garros played percussion. They used Bach's music as a starting point for their jazz improvisations.
The trio performed many live shows and tours. They also made many recordings. They first recorded with Decca Records. Later, they switched to Philips. In 15 years, they sold over six million albums. Their most famous recording was "Air on the G String". This song was used in popular TV advertisements for many years in the UK.
New projects and a studio
In the mid-1970s, the trio stopped playing together for a while. Loussier then built his own recording studio, Studio Miraval. It opened in 1977. There, he worked on new music for both acoustic and electric instruments. Famous musicians like Pink Floyd, Elton John, Sting, and Sade recorded at his studio. Parts of Pink Floyd's album The Wall were recorded there.
The trio returns
In 1985, which was Bach's 300th birthday, Loussier started the trio again. This time, André Arpino played percussion, and Vincent Charbonnier played bass. Later, Benoit Dunoyer de Segonzac also played bass in the trio.
Besides Bach, the trio recorded jazz versions of music by many other classical composers. These included Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, and Satie. In 2005, they released an album called Take Bach. On this album, they played Bach's concertos for two and three pianos with the Pekinel sisters. Loussier's last albums, My Personal Favorites and Beyond Bach, Other Composers I Adore, came out in 2014. This was to celebrate his 80th birthday.
In 2002, there was a disagreement about music between Loussier and rapper Eminem. Loussier claimed that a song called "Kill You" sounded too much like his own music. The issue was later settled outside of court.
Later life and passing
Jacques Loussier had a stroke during a concert in Germany on July 14, 2011. After that, he stopped performing on stage. He passed away on March 5, 2019, at the age of 84.
His own compositions
Loussier wrote music for over 100 films and TV shows. He started with the film The Happy Sixties in 1963. His film scores included music for Heaven on One's Head (1965) and Dark of the Sun (1968). He also wrote the theme song for the French TV series Thierry la Fronde.
Besides film music, Loussier composed other classical pieces. These included a trumpet concerto and two violin concertos. He also wrote music for a ballet. His special Mass, Lumières: Messe Baroque du 21e Siècle, has been compared to Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
Recordings
Here are some of the albums Jacques Loussier released during his career:
Solo albums
- 1972 Dark of the Sun (MGM)
- 1979 Pulsion (CBS)
- 1979 Pulsion / Sous la mer
- 1980 Fréderick Chopin par Jacques Loussier (CBS)
- 1982 Pagan Moon (CBS)
- 2004 – Impressions of Chopin's Nocturnes (Telarc CD-83602)
- 2013 Jacques Loussier Joue Kurt Weill (Remastered)
- 2014 Jacques Loussier / Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Percussion / Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Tabla / Ignacy Jan Paderewski / Sonata in A minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 13
Trio albums
- 1959 – Play Bach No. 1 (Decca SSL 40.500)
- 1960 – Play Bach No. 2 (Decca SSL 40.502)
- 1961 – Play Bach No. 3 (Decca SSL 40.507)
- 1963 – Play Bach No. 4 (Decca SSL 40.516)
- 1965 – Play Bach aux Champs Élysées (Decca Coffret, two albums, SSL40.148)
- 1967 – Play Bach No. 5 (Decca SSL 40.205)
- 1973 – 6 Masterpieces (Philips 6321-100)
- 1985 – The Best of Play Bach (Start STL6) – UK No. 58
- 1986 – Bach to the Future (Start CD SCD2)
- 1987 – Bach to Bach (Start CD Original Live in Japan SMCD 19)
- 1988 – Brandenburg Concertos (Limelight-Japan CD 844 058-2, Decca)
- 1988 – The Greatest Bach (Partita No.1 in B Flat Major BWV 825, Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor BWV 1067) (Limelight CD 844 059-2, Decca)
- 1990 – Lumières: Messe Baroque du 21ième siècle (Decca CD 425217-2)
- 1993 – Play Bach 93 Volume 1 (Note Productions CD 437000-2)
- 1994 – Play Bach Aujourd'hui Les Thèmes en Ré (Note Productions CD 437000-4)
- 1995 – Jacques Loussier Plays Bach (Telarc), Compilation "Play Bach 93" et "Les Thèmes en Ré" (Note Productions)
- 1997 – Jacques Loussier Plays Vivaldi (Telarc CD 83417)
- 1998 – Satie (Telarc CD 83431)
- 1999 – Ravel's Bolero (Telarc CD 83466)
- 2000 – Bach's Goldberg Variations (Telarc CD 83479)
- 2000 – Plays Debussy (Telarc CD 83511)
- 2000 – Play Bach No. 1 (Decca 157 561–2)
- 2002 – Handel: Water Music & Royal Fireworks (Telarc CD 83544)
- 2003 – Beethoven: Allegretto from Symphony No. 7: Theme and Variations (Telarc CD-83580)
- 2004 – The Best of Play Bach (Telarc SACD-63590)
- 2005 – Mozart Piano Concertos 20/23 (Telarc CD-83628)
- 2007 – Encore! – Jacques Loussier Plays Bach (Telarc 83671-25)
- 2009 – Jacques Loussier Plays Bach: The 50th Anniversary Recording (Telarc 83693-25)
- 2011 – Schumann: Kinderszenen (Scenes From Childhood) (Telarc TEL-32270-02)
- 2014 – Beyond Bach, Other Composers I Adore (Telarc TEL-35342-02)
- 2014 – My Personal Favorites: The Jacques Loussier Trio Plays Bach (Telarc TEL-35319-02)
See also
In Spanish: Jacques Loussier para niños
