Director
Andreas Morell

Performer
Jacques Loussier (piano)

Programme
Prelude in C major BWV 846 from the first part of The Well-Tempered Clavier
Fugue in D major BWV 850, from the first part of The Well-Tempered Clavier
Air from the Third Suite for Orchestra BWV 1068
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major BWV 1050
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring from Cantata No. 147

Born in 1934 in north-west France, Jacques Loussier seemed set on a career as a concert pianist when he entered Paris Conservatoire at 16. But Loussier loved be-bop as much as baroque, and cool-jazz as much as classical, and developed a unique blend of the two.

Loussier founded the Play Bach Trio, which used Bach's compositions as the basis for jazz improvisation. The trio immediately caught the public imagination. In their live appearances, tours and concerts, plus a succession of recordings built on the cornerstone of four albums made between 1960 and 1963, Loussier's group achieved the breakthrough to popular commercial success enjoyed by only a select few jazz musicians, selling over six million albums in fifteen years. Loussier's gently swinging arrangements of Bach (very familiar to British TV audiences of recent decades as the music for Hamlet cigars' adverts) made him an international celebrity in the early 1960s, and he has continued to mingle styles ever since.

This recording is the first ever of the pianist making a solo appearance. Here, he plays interpretations of music by Bach in the intimate surroundings of the Subway jazz club in Cologne.