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 Air on a G String
02 Fugue No. 5 in D major
03 Pastorale in C minor
04 Prelude No. 1 in C major from the Well-Tempered Clavier
05 Toccata and Fugue in D minor
06 Italian Concerto: Allegro
07 Italian Concerto: Andante
08 Italian Concerto: Presto
09 Partita in E major
10 Chorale No. 1 Sleepers Awake
11 Toccata and Fugue in C major: Overture
12 Toccata and Fugue in C major: Adagio
13 Toccata and Fugue in C major: Fugue

CD2

01 Siciliana in G minor
02 Concerto in C minor: Allegro
03 Little Fugue in G minor
04 Concerto in F minor: Allegro
05 Concerto in F minor: Largo
06 Concerto in F minor: Presto
07 Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
08 Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major: Allegro
09 Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major: Affettuoso
10 Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major: Allegro
11 Goldberg Variations: Aria
12 Goldberg Variations: Variation 2
13 Goldberg Variations: Variation 5
14 Goldberg Variations: Variation 25