Jacques Loussier

In a career that spans more than a half century, pianist and composer Jacques Loussier has built an enormous body of work by blurring the lines between classical and jazz. Beginning in 1959 with his Play Bach Trio, and later with alternate lineups that explored numerous other classical artists, Loussier and his various collaborators forced musicians and audiences of both jazz and classical music to re-evaluate the boundaries – and indeed the similarities – between their respective genres. Along the way, he has sold more than six million albums worldwide.

Fifty five years after those bold first steps with Play Bach Trio, Telarc celebrates Loussier’s upcoming 80th birthday in October 2014 with the release of two collections that provide a cross section of his masterful fusion of classical tradition with the jazz idiom. My Personal Favorites: The Jacques Loussier Trio Plays Bach and Beyond Bach: Other Composers I Adore – two specially priced 2-CD sets, each with tracks chosen by Loussier as personal favorites.

CD1

01 Vivaldi: Concerto No. 2 in G minor Summer: Allegro con Molto
02 Vivaldi: Concerto No. 2 in G minor Summer: Adagio
03 Vivaldi: Concerto No. 2 in G minor Summer: Presto
04 Satie: Gymnopedie No. 1, Variation 1
05 Satie: Gnossienne No. 1
06 Handel: Passacaglia
07 Scarlatti: Sonata No. 22 in B minor
08 Ravel: Bolero
09 Debussy: Clair de lune
10 Debussy: Arabesque

CD2

01 Beethoven: Symphony No. 7: Allegretto, Theme
02 Beethoven: Symphony No. 7: Allegretto, Variation 2
03 Beethoven: Symphony No. 7: Allegretto, Variation 5
04 Mozart: Concerto No. 23 in A major: Allegro
05 Mozart: Concerto No. 23 in A major: Adagio
06 Mozart: Concerto No. 23 in A major: Allegro assai
07 Schumann: Of Foreign Lands and Peoples
08 Schumann: Dreaming
09 Chopin: Nocturne No. 5
10 Chopin: Nocturne No. 11
11 Chopin: Nocturne No. 14
12 Chopin: Nocturne No. 20