Jacques Loussier Trio

b. 26 October 1934, Angers, France. A classically taught pianist, Loussier found a career in commercial popular music more lucrative. Then, in 1959, he hit upon the idea of performing the classical piano works of Johann Sebastian Bach in a quasi-jazz style. Together with Pierre Michelot and Christian Garros, the trio had enormous international success with the wider public. The concept, the low-key detached style, and possibly the huge commercial success, failed to endear the group to the hardcore jazz audience. In the mainstream, his interpretation of Bach is better known as the long-running music accompanying the award-winning Benson & Hedges film and television advertisements of the ’60s and ’70s. In the ’90s and beyond, Loussier attempted the same crossover with the works of Satie, Bach, Chopin, and Mozart.