Jacques Loussier Trio Plays Debussy (Telarc Jazz CD-83511).

Jacques Loussier Trio Plays Debussy (Telarc Jazz CD-83511)

The Jacques Loussier Trio (Loussier on piano, Benoit Dunoyer de Segonzac on bass, and Andre Arpino on drums), having recorded commendable jazz trio interpretations of French composers Satie and Ravel, have now turned their attention inevitably to the music of Debussy. The end result is a fascinating hybrid of classical music and jazz; indeed, those who enjoy the music of Debussy, even if they do not usually listen to jazz, should find this recording fascinating. For the most part, the trio sticks close to Debussy's musical language, the end result sounding more like classical music than jazz. However, many jazz lovers will smile when they hear the Jacques Loussier Trio suddenly shift gears in the middle of their interpretation of "La Fille aux cheveux de lin" to produce music that sounds for all the world like Keith Jarrett's "Standards Trio" (Keith Jarrett on piano, Gary Peacock on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums). (Jarrett has played classical music on solo piano, but not with his trio; hearing Loussier mimic Jarrett's sound makes me long to hear Jarrett's trio try some classical music on for size, but I'm not going to hold my breath ...) The sound on this disc is typical of this series, with close-up, punchy sound that packs plenty of mid-bass wallop. My only quibble with recording is with its length, just over 51 minutes. Still, these are 51 truly enjoyable minutes indeed, well worth a listen by Debussy fans and jazz fans alike. - KWN