Jazz

Jacques Loussier - Impressions of Chopins Nocturnes (2004)

2010-06-27T10:11:19Z

Jacques Loussier - Impressions of Chopins Nocturnes (2004)


01. Nocturne No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9, No. 1 
02. Nocturne No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 
03. Nocturne No. 3 in B Major, Op. 9, No. 3 
04. Nocturne No. 4 in F Major, Op. 15, No. 1 
05. Nocturne No. 5 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 15, No. 2 
06. Nocturne No. 6 in G Minor, Op. 15, No. 3 
07. Nocturne No. 7 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 1 
08. Nocturne No. 8 in D-Flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2 
09. Nocturne No. 9 in B-Flat Major, Op. 32, No. 2 
10. Nocturne No. 10 in A-Flat Major, Op. 32, No. 2 
11. Nocturne No. 11 in G Minor, Op. 37, No. 1 
12. Nocturne No. 12 in G Major, Op. 37, No. 2 
13. Nocturne No. 13 in C Minor, Op. 48, No. 1 
14. Nocturne No. 14 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 48, No. 2 
15. Nocturne No. 15 in F-Minor, Op. 55, No. 1 
16. Nocturne No. 16 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, No. 2 
17. Nocturne No. 17 in B Major, Op. 62, No. 1 
18. Nocturne No. 18 in E Major, Op. 62, No. 2 
19. Nocturne No. 19 in E Minor, Op. 72, No. 1 
20. Nocturne No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. Posthume 
21. Nocturne No. 21 in C Minor, Op. Posthume

Jacques Loussier - piano

Jacques Loussier has made a career out of playing classical themes in a jazz setting. Born in France in 1934, he came to fame in the late 1950s with his Play Bach Trio, a group that stayed together 20 years, transforming the themes of Bach into creative and melodic jazz. Since then he has put together another trio in which he interprets not just the music of Bach but Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel, Satie and other classical giants. This set (which is subtitled Impressions on Chopin's Nocturnes) is a bit of a departure in that Loussier performs Frédéric Chopin's 21 nocturnes as unaccompanied piano solos. Nocturne No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op, 9., No. 2 is the most famous of these melodies although a few of the other nocturnes may be familiar even to non-classical listeners. Generally Loussier states the right-hand melody while altering the patterns written for the left-hand, and then builds from there. The essence of Chopin's music is retained while Loussier is free to improvise his own ideas based on the themes. Most of his interpretations are gentle and subtle while never neglecting the rich melodies, and the treatments are at times slightly reminiscent of early film music and ragtime. Classical purists may not love this approach but they should be thankful, for Jacques Loussier has consistently introduced the beauty of classical music to jazz listeners. This is a very enjoyable set. ---Scott Yamow, Rovi

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Jacques Loussier Trio – Bach The Brandenburgs (2006)

2009-10-18T11:15:26Z

Jacques Loussier Trio – Bach The Brandenburgs (2006)


01. Concerto No. 1 in F major: I. (Allegro)
02. Concerto No. 1 in F major: II. Adagio
03. Concerto No. 1 in F major: III. Allegro
04. Concerto No. 2 in F major: I. (Allegro)
05. Concerto No. 2 in F major: II. Andante
06. Concerto No. 2 in F major: III. Allegro assai
07. Concerto No. 3 in G major: I. (Allegro)
08. Concerto No. 3 in G major: II. Adagio
09. Concerto No. 3 in G major: III. Allegro
10. Concerto No. 4 in G major: I. Allegro
11. Concerto No. 4 in G major: II. Andante
12. Concerto No. 4 in G major: III. Presto
13. Concerto No. 5 in D major: I. Allegro
14. Concerto No. 5 in D major: II. Affettuoso
15. Concerto No. 5 in D major: III. Allegro
16. Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major: I. (Allegro)
17. Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major: II. Allegro
18. Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major: III. Adagio ma non tanto

Jacques Loussier: piano
Benoit Dunoyer de Segonzac: bass
Andre Arpino: drums

With his trio, pianist Jacques Loussier has interpreted classical works in a straight-ahead jazz setting for over four decades. He made quite an impression in 1960 with the Play Bach Trio and has never looked back. Newer trios have developed under his direction, letting the practice of reinterpreting classical music in a jazz vein grow prolifically.

The music of J.S. Bach has much in common with modern jazz. There's considerable freedom, changes in mood and tempo, and a driving force. The spirit runs free. For the most part, the Brandenburgs offer light and carefree melodies with embellished, lingering phrases. J.S. Bach composed the six concerti for the Margrave of Brandenburg between 1708 and 1720. The central piece, "Concerto No. 5, was written for flute, violin and harpsichord. Loussier has always felt that it made the best fit for his jazz trio.

Piano, bass and drums negotiate the allegro passages of each concerto with ease and express ideas naturally with the slower portions. The piano's clarity remains the album's focus, as Loussier drives note for note what Bach laid down. When the trio improvises, those crystal-clear piano lines remain intact as the artists weave alternate ideas around each theme. While the music seldom swings, it does provide a fairly enjoyable rhythmic stride in its interpretation. "Concerto No. 5 serves as the session's high point. The other concerti lack the emotional feeling that this one provides.

Loussier and his trio tackle "No. 5 with authority. Not by coincidence, it's also the longest of the concerto interpretations. With this favorite member of the Brandenburgs, we get plenty of swing, animated rhythmic action, a slow ballad middle movement, and a highly dynamic emotional environment. Loussier's interpretation closes with a hot allegro movement that sums up what he feels about keeping music such as this alive and well. Bach's music still holds many surprises, and Loussier's swinging trio is able to bring it into the 21st Century with determined clarity. ---Jim Santella, allaboutjazz.com

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Jacques Loussier Trio – Mozart Piano Concertos 20 & 23 (2005)

2009-10-18T11:14:24Z

Jacques Loussier Trio – Mozart Piano Concertos 20 & 23 (2005)


01. Concerto No.20 in D Minor, KV 466: I. Allegro 
02. Concerto No.20 in D Minor, KV 466: II. Romance 
03. Concerto No.20 in D Minor, KV 466: III. Rondo presto 
04. Concerto No.23 in A Major, KV 488: I. Allegro 
05. Concerto No.23 in A Major, KV 488: II. Adagio 
06. Concerto No.23 in A Major, KV 488: III. Allegro assai

André Arpino - Drums
Jean Claude Auclin - Cello
David Braccini - Violin
Benoit Dunoyer de Segonzac  - Bass, Double Bass
Vincent Debruyne - Viola
Anne Gravoin - Violin
Sylvain Le Provost - Bass, Double Bass
Jacques Loussier - Arranger, Piano, Producer
David Naulin - Violin
Paul Rouger  - Violin
Jacques Saint-Yves - Violin
Richard Schmoucler - Violin
Renaud Stahl - Viola
Mathilde Sternat - Cello
Mathias Tranchant - Violin

This doesn't really work, but Jacques Loussier's attempt to make Mozart work as jazz is sufficiently complex enough to make you ask, as you're hearing it, why it isn't working, and maybe that's a worthwhile thing. As the liner notes point out, it is most often Bach among classical composers whose music has served as the basis for jazz experiments. Mozart-jazz is much rarer. Chick Corea has played Mozart piano concertos with jazz cadenzas, introducing improvisation where Mozart would have included it anyway -- a natural solution. But Loussier is more ambitious: he tries to recast the Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor and Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major entirely as jazz. The problem is that Mozart lacks the combination of clear harmonic framework and steady rhythmic pulse that is fundamental to Bach's music. Mozart may seem to have a clear rhythmic pulse, but one key to his deceptive simplicity is that his manipulations of the listener's perception of time are both highly complex and perfectly balanced. The speed at which things are happening changes constantly but is perfectly controlled. Tamper with it, and the whole thing can fall apart.

Loussier goes to great lengths to stop that from occurring. First, he simplifies the overall picture by dropping Mozart's wind parts. Then he breaks up Mozart's flow of music into sections, treating each in a characteristic way. Mozart's opening themes are presented more or less straight, with a few syncopations and light jazz percussion added. It is in transitional material or material leading toward a transition (such as second themes and their subsidiary themes), that he sets his trio (piano, bass, and drums) loose with jazz improvisations upon Mozart's melodies and harmonic progressions. The jazz element thus partially stands in for developmental passages in which Mozart increases the tension by revving up the harmonic rhythm. This doesn't get from point A to point B as smoothly as Mozart does, but it's inventive, and Loussier's unfoldings of his ideas are interesting to follow. In rhythmically intense passages such as the opening of the last movement of the Piano Concerto No. 20 -- and only in these -- he turns the drummer loose. The opening themes to these (jazz-loving) ears just sounded bizarre, and sometimes one gets the feeling that the various elements of the music are competing with each other rather than working together. Yet Loussier did not approach his task with anything less than a full appreciation of the complexity of the job, and if he has not delivered a recording that is exactly attractive, he has shown us something of how difficult musical fusion really is when it has aims above the superficial. Any jazz musician who has wrestled with similar questions will find much to chew on here. ---James Manheim, Rovi

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Jacques Loussier Trio – Plays Debussy (2000)

2009-10-18T11:16:54Z

Jacques Loussier Trio – Plays Debussy (2000)


1.	Clair De Lune
2.	Prelude a l’Apres Midi d’un Faune
3.	Arabesque from Deux Arabesques
4.	La Fille Aux Cheveux de Lin From Preludes Book I
5.	L’Isle Joyeusse
6.	Reverie
7.	La Cathedrale Engloutie from Preludes Book I
8.	Syrinx

    Jacques Loussier - piano
    Benoit Dunoyer de Segonzac - bass
    Andre Arpino - drums

When Jacques Loussier gave the music of Johann Sebastian Bach the jazz treatment (as others, notably the Modern Jazz Quartet, had before him), it worked really well. The tumbling flow of Bach's contrapuntal lines, the square rhythms that just beg to be played with a swing feel -- everything about Bach that makes his music the farthest thing from jazz seems to make jazz adaptations inevitable. The French composer Claude Debussy is a less obvious choice, and on this album you see why. Debussy was a much more impressionistic composer, and his music doesn't have either the rhythmic vitality or the sense of driving tonal logic that fuels the music of Bach. That makes it harder to fit his compositions into a jazz context. That Loussier succeeds as much as he does is a compliment to his sensitivity as a pianist and to his trio's ability to work with him intuitively. Loussier's renditions of "Prelude a l'Apres-Midi d'un Faune" and "Reverie" sound a lot like Bill Evans at his most ethereal; things pick up a bit on "L'Isle Joyeuse," but even that relatively energetic track is pretty well lacking in swing. The final result is music that doesn't sound much like jazz, but is quite enjoyable anyway. ---Rick Anderson, Rovi

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Jacques Loussier – Pagan Moon (1982)

2009-10-18T11:12:48Z

Jacques Loussier – Pagan Moon (1982)

 
1.	Night Rider
2.	Furies
3.	Moonchild
4.	Invaders
5.	Phantom Lady
6.	Nocturnal Sea
7.	Enchantress
8.	The Dawn

Jacques Loussier – piano
Patrice Mazmanian – synthesizer
Luc Heller – percussion

Pagan Moon is one of three "black sheep" of French pianist and composer Jacques Loussier (born 1934), released in 1982 on the CBS label and currently only available on vinyl, and for good reasons, at least according to the artist’s will.

One cruddy second into the in medias res histrionics of the opener Night Rider, and I could as well leave my review at that and move on, for Exotica this is not, no matter how hard I try to stress, bend and permeate the genre boundaries: the pandemoniac staccato spiral of Jacques Loussier’s glacial piano tones in tandem with the admixed frostiness of Patrice Mazmanian’s synthesizer frostiness create a high-pressure chase into the blue-tinted abyss of a wasteland of one’s choice, there seems no escape. Luc Heller’s dry percussion and additional synthetic dark matter horns altogether merge into one of those archetypical 80’s hymns, madness and despair are all over this implicit ode to Blade Runner, and Exotica is farther away than ever… that is until two short intersections are reached whose tone sequences suddenly lighten up and become the paradisiac contravention to the daemonic doom. For very short moments, capsules of insouciance and freedom reign over the arrangement, and it turns out that this quasi-yearning melancholia plays an important role in the endemic qualities of Pagan Moon. The following Furies shows this tendency by neglecting it at first: rising synthesizer billows of cold eeriness elbow their way through the atmosphere, dark and all the more staggering piano chords stab through the jinxed labyrinth, but soon enough, brighter counterparts illumine the darkness and lead to arabesques of glee whose spiraling physiognomy moves upwards into higher spheres where ethereal specters wait and transform Furies back into its frightening state. C'est dystopian Space-Age, mes dames et messieurs.

Be that as it may, Loussier opens up the jagged roughness gradually and bit by bit. Moonchild reaches the syrupy clichés that are often found in vintage Jazz material of the late 50’s as well, alloyed here with New Age-oid synthesizer riverbeds. The signature element of this beatless piece and masked piano arrangement is indeed the blissful devotion as delivered by the piano. Like a Rene Paulo interpretation, Moonchild puts the focus on the sequential piano gentleness. Somnolent and solemn, the good-natured spirit is transferred to Invaders, even though this exciting piece is much more akin to the duality of Space-Age and related space operas: golden-shimmering martelato tones interchange with ominous tendencies in minor, all the while Mazmanian’s synthesizers waft in the background. The quirkiest passage is yet to come: star dust spirals, programmed bongos and dark matter pads join the piano prongs. The dichotomy between light and darkness, vivacity and fugacity, cyber-Exotica and cosmic Space-Age is never resolved, Invaders remains strangely fragmented, but probably succeeds for this very reason.

The second half of Pagan Moon continues to celebrate the shock-and-awe clash of Space-Age, New Age, the Age of Aquarius and classic piano arrangements of age. Phantom Lady is a cyberspace ballad of polygonal beauty. Downwards spiraling four-note chimes evaporate the crystalline scent of purity, whereas the legato synth strings boost the transfiguration into tramontane spheres. Everything feels overly polished and purified, the chintzy warmth of the Loussier’s helical piano faces apocryphal orchestrations whose emaciated cornucopias are anything but mere shadowy devices; their galactic gentleness feels antediluvian and de trop. Again, this irresolvable state is intriguing for Moog fans and Space-Age aficionados alike, although nothing prepares the listener for the genuinely gorgeous Nocturnal Sea. What a corker this is! Luc Heller’s splendid breakbeat erections (with programmed bongos!) accentuate Jacques Loussier’s polymorphous sanguine-threnodic piano strata, and as if this change of pace was not enough already, an opalescent polar light radiance shimmers in the background. The beat structure is the signature element, stumbling along, but for once, the textures and surfaces fit together very well and make Nocturnal Sea a stringent artifact of cosmic cohesion. My top pick of the album: jazzy, electronic, electric. While Enchantress ventures back into the melodramatic worshipping procession of femme fatale figments and puts the focus on the alluvial piano soils instead of the warped synth propulsion, it turns out that the finale The Dawn is the second-best composition off Pagan Moon and enthralls with yellow-hued piano vestibules, four-note embellishments hinting at a partial turmoil, and Luc Heller’s breakbeat encore. As if this tune were distilled from a Japanese role playing game, The Dawn tumbles, twirls and scintillates into the light. Paradise regained.

If you rushed to this last paragraph of the review, let me recapture the biggest – and eminently interesting – problem in terms of Pagan Moon: its proper categorization. As mentioned in the first paragraph, the term Pagan is a most welcome marker, for it regularly – if not mandatorily – points to the Exotica genre more often than not. Jacques Loussier’s estranged album differs, for his kind of Paganism is fueled by the impetus of Vangelis and the Blade Runner soundtrack, nurtured by the advancements of synthesizer-related technology in the 80’s and justified by another genre which is close enough to the Exotica connoisseur’s interests that it justifies an in-depth review here: Space-Age. Pagan Moon is a curious album in itself, but even stranger if you contrast it with Loussier’s Bach-heavy oeuvre. While he has specialized in the jazzier interpretations of Johann Sebastian Bach’s works, Pagan Moon feels enormously odd, as if it came from another dimension. It is one of the Frenchman’s strangest albums, one he wants you to forget. But as is the case with Space-Age albums by artists or bands who are not generally known for catering to this clientele, it is exactly those works – of all things! – that gain the most traction; indeed, one cannot spell attraction without using traction. Pagan Moon is a rough dob which shimmers and shines, but has a long way to go and many solar systems to traverse until it maybe becomes a diamond. The darkness in the shape of Night Rider, Furies or Invaders can be seen as an affront to Exotica fans who are not targeted anyway, but Space-Age followers and worshippers of the Moog sound will rejoice. The anticipation of the virtual reality craze is then fulfilled by amalgamations like Moonchild, but especially so with the splendid Nocturnal Sea and The Dawn. Designedly artificial but partially rooted in the real world thanks to the classic piano, Pagan Moon is a curious critter, completely under the radar of Space-Age fans, but a rather interesting choice. ---ambientexotica.com

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