About this Artist

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Editorial Reviews

Jazz has always had strong ties to classical music, and J. S. Bach has been a particular inspiration to many jazz musicians -- from Fats Waller to Bud Powell to Keith Jarrett. Jacques Loussier has been giving his own improvisatory takes on Bach's music for some three decades now. Here, the classically trained French pianist -- a student of the legendary Yves Nat -- plays the "Goldberg Variations," a vast work based, like many jazz standards, on a repeated bass line. With help from drummer André Arpino and bassist Benoit Dunoyer de Segonzac, Loussier loosens up the rhythms, adds a whole lot of swing, and riffs off Bach's long-limbed melodies. He's generally quite faithful to the original, although he's more interested in the tunes than in the counterpoint and carefully chooses just the right spots to rush off on flights of fancy. Who knew this rigorous musical epic could sound so cool? Andrew Farach-Colton, Barnes & Noble

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