Loussier, the brilliant French pianist who passed last March. It was back in the 1950s that his love affair with delightfully melding Bach and jazz first began. He applied his successful original hybrid approach to other classical composers (Debussy, Satie) and pieces (“The Four Seasons”) over the following decades, selling millions of records and CDs world-wide.
I was watching his 1989 Munich 83-minute concert last evening on DVD and duly impressed by his last famous trio which included Vincent Charbonnier on 5-string stand-up bass and Andre Arpino on drums. They performed 7 of Bach’s pieces including”Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major” and “Chorale: Jesu, joy of man’s desiring”.
Each of the musicians had his moment in the limelight with Loussier soloing beautifully, his bassist knocking out the audience with his sliding note technique, and his drummer surprising everyone with a wide-ranging drum solo. In the “Brandenburg”, they appropriately launched into walking bass jazz for the finale.
Loussier had his fair share of critics, especially classical purists, who failed to recognize the obvious ties and possibilities between the two genres. The truth is that the structure of classical is a wonderful set-up for the improvisations of jazz. And Loussier’s work is natural, credible, and never too strained or far-out. Of all the hybrids in art I can think of, this is one that worked, no-brainerly, even better than The Swingle Singers’ ambitious vocalizing of the same musical hybrid.
Loussier’s dual sensibility and fascinating adaptation-compositions never cease to amaze and delight me. He remains one of the most interesting and tasteful jazzers of all time.