Great Recordings Pt.2 - Jacques Loussier: 'The Bach Book'
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- Following on from my previous video: 'What Makes a Great Recording?', in this video I cover a magnificent recording by Patrice Ques at 'Studio Miravel' of the Jacques Loussier Trio, from around 1995, performing their interpretation of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, by Johan Sebastian Bach.
00:00 - Introduction
01:41 - About Bach and the background to The Brandenberg Concertos
05:56 - Jacques Loussier's 'The Bach Book' CD
Spotify: (first movement) open.spotify.com/track/4Nu2tq...
Spotify: (the album) The Bach Book: open.spotify.com/album/1mKQz7...
Suggested 'classical versions' of Brandenburg Concerto No. 5:
open.spotify.com/album/6ITz2W...
open.spotify.com/album/5gSJ9X...
Spotify playlist 'What Makes a Great Recording?' - (your nominated choices): open.spotify.com/playlist/1Bc... 
Хобби
Thank you so much Sir Lovegrove, for introducing us to many such great pieces, it is turly an education listerning to you.
I have been so inspired by your talks and get the chance to listern to the Sibelius loudspeakers, over youtube, mainly during your talks, that I have opened a monthly Audio fund account and started saving whatever possible monthly to be in the position to purchase a pair of your divine speakers in about 3 years (around my 50th birthday)!
Of course, I hope the speakers will still be avaliable from Pearl Accoustics when I am able to purchase a pair.
You’re very kind. So glad you appreciate my videos. I am very sure the Sibelius will still be around, we are not planning to go anywhere and there will be no Mk ll or Mk lll, we are very happy with how they are now!
Best wishes, Harley
Thank you so much for your kind response!
I love these Great Recording series. More!
Thank you Alex. I will do my best. More to come, for sure.
@@PearlAcoustics Great! Looking forward to it!
The Bach Book = Everything that is Good about being a Human. God speaks through Bach, through the hands and fingers of Loussier, the driving rhythm of the drum set, and that funky bass.
I had the pleasure to see them in concert on a couple of occasions in the UK over the last three decades. Exceptional playing and sparking off each other and the audience. Fabulous to see what great musicians can do from great root pieces -- not just Bach.
Thank you for introducing me to this great album! I will definitely be adding it to my collection.
I've always loved Bach, and have always believed that if Bach were alive today, he would be recognized as a living jazz master!
And this album just reinforces that belief.
Please, please continue these "Great Recordings" videos! I l really enjoyed the previous one on Jacqueline Du Pre.
Dear Dennis. You’re very welcome. I have no intention of stopping yet. As long as people have interest! 😉
🧐 KNOWING WHAT TO LISTEN 👂🏻 FOR AND WHERE TO LOOK 👀…IS A BEAUTIFUL 🤩 THING 🤗
NOW LISTENING TO JACQUES ON APPLE MUSIC 👍THANKS AGAIN HARLEY 😍😍😍
As a deep classical music lover, I would like to thank you for helping me to broaden my music appreciation repertoire.
You’re very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it snd find them interesting
Thanks a lot for this episode. This is absolutely fantastic education. Please keep these coming.
Thank you Rohit. I will do my best!
Thank you !!! Jacques Loussier - as musician - has been a revelation for me.
Hi. You have sent in another comment with a link in it. I can see it in the system but it does not show publicly, I think because there is a link in it… can you try deleting the link?
@@PearlAcoustics Hi. I can not see it any more !!!
@@lookbacktime9422 yes it’s really strange! I think youtube block it because of the link! ☹️
These videos are great. Thank you!
Thank you - very kind.
Thank you for this great story on Jacques Loussier Trio, I truly enjoyed the story and visuals presented here👏🏼👌🏽
Thank you. Very kind!
WOW! What an album! Thank you 🙏
Glad you like it! Thanks
Wow. How did i not know Jacques Loussier, his trio, or this fabulous recording. Thank you. Keep these thoughtful fusions of music, recording, and reproduction coming!
That’s the beauty of music - there’s always something to discover.
Jeez! glad I clicked; found the album and wow! This video and that album are wonderful.
Thank you. Very kind
Thank you, wonderful video
Glad you enjoyed it. 🙏
Thanks for pulling the playlist together. Selections are good. I have many of these records but there are a few unexpected selections. Thanks.
You’re welcome. They are all nominations from our fellow viewers
THANKS HARLEY 🤗 I WILL PICKUP A COPY OF BOTH FROM OUR LIBRARY …LOOKING FORWARD 👀 to giving them both a listen 👂😍😍😍
Glad you brought the spotlight to this great but not well known artist- I have every CD of his- I concur with everything in your review- quality of the recording & the interplay and dynamics within the trio- Bach’s genius is matched by Loussier’s interpretation of his music- Bach would surely appreciate it as well.
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it! Best wishes from Belgium
Thank you so much for this recommendation! Telarc Jazz recording, too! Awesome!
You're very welcome - glad you like it
I really enjoyed this album, thank you. Your speakers will be my next pair of floorstanders.
So glad you enjoyed the JL. And it would be an honour for us to build you a pair of our loudspeakers.
The Bach Book….. I listened to it on Apple Music. A fabulous collection of recordings! I can’t stop listening to them. I enjoy it so much, I bought a copy. Thank you for this recommendation!!!
You’re very welcome Thomas! So pleased.
A,axing narration , been helpful to learn such tiny details . I do listen to music and own some good gears but I am not technical or such keen ears and knowledge like you .it’s fascinating to see you filled with such information .thankyou for sharing
You’re very welcome Ganesh. It’s a pleasure to share my knowledge with you. Enjoy.
Hello Harley - Thank you so much for Part 1 and this series, A lot of people, including RUclips audio equipment reviewers, say “it’s all about the music” yet your channel is, in my estimation, the premier example of that claim. Your equipment reviews always focus on the music and the real world effects that HiFi equipment has on our enjoyment.
I am listening to this selection (via Apple Music which is now lossless) and it is, indeed, a wonderful recording. I had known of Loussier for many years, but admit to not having listened or even though of him for quite a long time; so thank you for bringing him back around to my attention.
I do have a recording which I will recommend, but I am going to give it another listen and if I still feel it meets the criteria, will send it along with some thoughts in an email.
Cheers and thanks again.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment. I am so pleased that I touch a chord in you and that we are on the same wavelength. I look forward to hearing your suggestion of a great recording, very much. But for now it’s Friday night and time to appreciate some fine wine and a few bars of the real stuff - music, in all it’s forms!
@@PearlAcoustics Salut mon ami!
Jacques Loussier and many other musicians love the harmonic and rhythmic progressions and the fact that you can use dynamics and timing to tell different stories that are hidden in the composition. He shakes different levels of feel out of Bach. Really inspired!
May I suggest two albums from two musicians who are great composers and arrangers the first is Debut from Bjork and the second is Nothing Like The Sun by Sting.
Two great suggestions - thank you
Back in the late 1960s one of the first LPs I purchased was a Decca recording of the Jacques Loussier Trio and it was long a firm favourite until I was burgled in the late 1970s. I was listening to the Toccata and Fugue in D Major (BWV 565) on Tidal and typed Jacques Loussier into YT search box to find myself once more listening to your good self. Serendipity? What a pity we’re on opposite ends of the planet. I’d love to discuss a project I’ve had in mind for several years now. I’m going to have a Voigt Pipe fabricated and use a single Tang Band 8 inch driver. As I mentioned in an earlier comment, I have fond memories of my first attempt at speaker building and the astonishing results I obtained with Richard Allan full-range drivers back in 1971.
Hi Jonathan, excuse the poor attempt at a joke but it is impressive that your burglars had such good musical taste!
I tend T find distance a relative thing these days. See how we communicate. Good luck with your Voight project, sounds like fun.
@@PearlAcoustics My collection was already large enough that the thief managed to take only a third of them. And yes, they had excellent taste. I managed to replace most in a reasonable time span, but I had to await rerelease on CD for several. Fairly obviously I’m impressed by your approach to speaker design being aligned with my own ideas in that regard. But I suspect that the cost of transporting large, heavy cabinets over such long distances wouldn’t be a terribly wise decision. The fabricator of my current speakers, VAF Research in Adelaide, used to fabricate speakers for KEF and other British brands back in the 1970s and 80s. Of course Tasmania where I live is renowned for its fine furniture timbers: Huon, King Billy and Celery-top Pine, Blackwood, Sassafras, and Myrtle beech. I also possess a quantity of a synthetic paper product called Paperock that’s nearly as dense and hard as granite, but far easier to work with than stone or concrete.
@@jonathansturm4163 that’s very interesting indeed. Shipping is expensive but not as much as the margin a dealer would take 😉. We would like to find manufacturers to build locally one day. So feel free to reach out via enquiries@pearlacoustics.com if you have time, marking your email for my attention
Nice explanation of this, I listened to Jacques before and this complements the experience, so thank you.
Just a suggestion for those looking for an introduction to this trio, there is a 2 CD compilation (nice sounding to me) called My personal Favorites, including the version you talk about. And thus including many more highlights, recommended to add to a CD collection!
Thanks Robin!
Always a pleasure to hear your video! I would like to listen from you something more about one listening experience you once mentioned in one of your first video. I’m referring to Kathleen Ferrier (maybe singing Mahler under Bruno Walter) and the way the sound of her voice oriented your project. Thanks anyway.
Kathleen Ferrier, what a truly wonderful singer. Hopefully, one day I will! Enjoy
As a second time I heard you mention your age kind of negative want you to know there’s someone out here eagerly awaiting watching you age perfection and then beyond🙏🥰🥰♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
😂 hopefully I’ve still got a few years left in me yet?
The little fugue in G minor , still from Jacques Loussier trio, is also an interesting 9ne often used by a Dutch channel for demoing amps and speakers.
Thank you.
The Imagine Project by Herbie Hancock is a beautifully recorded album. Besides the piano, the tracks feature a variety of unusual percussion instruments, with amazing vocal performances. Listening, you can tell they paid a lot of attention to capturing the symphony of textures from every microphone. Other recent Hancock recordings are also worth a listen, but the Imagine Project is my favorite.
Thanks Ray. I’ll certainly give it a good listen and add it to the playlist. Always liked Herbie Hancock
Thanks Harley. CD bought!
You’re very welcome Mark! Enjoy
The Loussier 'Satie' disc is also brilliant.
Ok - I will have to check it out! Thanks
I enjoyed this video and I will listen to The Bach Book tomorrow. Through the entire video I kept thinking of Nils Henning Ørsted Pedersen's "The Bach Piece", which is quite short but infinately beautiful to me. In fact, the album (The unforgettable NHØP Trio Live) is a favourite of mine
Ok, thanks for the tip! I will definitely put it in my listening list today!
@@PearlAcoustics I could not find that particular album on my streaming plans. But Jacques Loussier, it turns out, is quite a rabbit hole. Thanks for that,,
I would love to see a video regarding headphones your take on them and some of your favorite ones
Thanks for the suggestion. I will give it some thought. Maybe I should but… if I am strictly honest, I don’t really like using them. At home I like to fill my room with music (I have the luxury of not disturbing others). However, obviously in the studio I have to wear them all day - then the criteria of - comfort, anti-sound leakage, detail and durability come to the front because I am only listening to ‘noise’ is there anything nasty going on or is a mic not right etc. I also listen with them in postproduction as well as playback monitors but my engineers use them more.
I'm not a big jazz fan, but Iove Jacques Loussier. I have to say I think the performances on the Decca recordings made in the 60s are better (perhaps it's just because that's what I'm used to.)
Hi Simon, I think you are right about the performances on Decca, I think they had more energy, we’re less polished and had more passion… but the sound of the later ones is better.
What do you think of Jazz at the Pawnshop? It may not meet the cut of a technically perfect recording but really puts you right there in that bar or restaurant where the group was playing, along with customers cheering and beer glasses etc.
I have only listened in passing to a few tracks - but it sounded great music to me.
Thank you Harley so much for this marvelous recommendation. I just finished listening and I was positively blown away. Absolutely thunderous. The level of musicianship was astounding.
Loussier at 6:00
Two of my favourite recordings are Martin Taylor's Artistry, which I think is pure poetry in sound. And Yo-Yo Ma's Six Evolutions album of J.S Bach cello suites.
Will definately check out Martin Taylor's Artistry. I don't know it. Yo Yo & Bach = legendary!
Thanks. This is you, at your best.
Why, thanks Ed! Very kind.
Hi sir So nice to hear you speak with such good regards to the jacques Loussier trio which as I speak am holding a copy of the Decca release from 1970 . Again bought by me new at the time , but sadly as so many records of the time sounds like it was recorded on cardboard . But my main point is you would not believe the dismissive negative response I get now from people in ( the classical community ) . For the life of me I don’t understand there problem , but ironically it even extends to the jazz music aficionados to . Yes it might seem a bit Kitsch today but it is of its time frame , so what’s not to like . Best wishes and kind regards to your good self. 😀👍👍👍
Dear Michael, I have one rule: when you close your eyes and really listen - can you feel the soul, the intent and the passion of the performers? Does it sound sincere? If the answer is yes to all, or any, then it’s fine by me. Let’s not get defined by narrow minded dogma, it didn’t do for Beethoven with his late string quartets and it won’t do for any human being with a need to experience the connection in whatever form.
Thanks and enjoy your LP! 😉
I've been a fan of Loussier's "Play Bach" albums since 1990.
Thanks for the introduction to this joyous romp through Bach's best loved tunes.
Track 9 is amazing!
Do you use subwoofers with the Sebelius speakers?🎶🤔🎶
Dear Carlito. Thanks for your comment. Personally, I don’t use sub-woofers because they already go very deep. The only reason ever for me would be if I needed to play very loud, then we would need to bypass lower frequencies to the sub and away from the Sibelius drivers. And that would take away the natural ability of the Sibelius. However, I know there are some that do. Especially for watching movies.
I usually loathe people messing around with classical music but the exception is Jacques Loussier - check out his take on Satie's Gnossienne No.4
Thanks for the suggestion
Cheers for the classy vid.
My advice for a great musician and recording: the song Gospel Trane on the album Force Majeure from Brandee Younger. The entire album actually fits the criteria imo :). Take care
Thanks very much for your kind words! I will certainly give your recommendation a listen and add it to the ‘Great Recordings’ play list. Thanks!
TELARC one of my favourite record labels, I have some fantastic recordings on cd and hi res from them.
Thanks Paul. I didn’t know it, until very recently. I will certainly check out some of their other releases.
@@PearlAcoustics your welcome, I've only just started watching your RUclips channel I find I agree with a. Lot of what you say and have owned some of the equipment I have seen on the channel, your speakers are a very interesting design also.
@@avro66 thank you very kind.
Two more (it's a matter of taste):
Eric Clapton - After Midnight | The Lady In The Balcony: Lockdown Sessions
Miserere mei, Deus - Allegri - Tenebrae conducted by Nigel Short
Thanks Martijn, I will give them both a listen and add to our playlist.
Eric Clapton - From the Cradle
@@chrissergeant7798 thanks!
Try miles Davis sketches of Spain if you haven't had the experience.bach is number one for me also cello suits some of the recording might fit the bill. Great video sir so insightful .thank you peace a yank.
I love Sketches of Spain! I almost chose it over Blue, but on reflection, blue was a bit more revolutionary, in its time. Thank you 🙏
Very good sound in this recording! Specially in the low notes. But...I love Bach, I love jazz, but this blend is not my cup of tea. Anyway thanks and keep doing recomnendations! Regards from Colombia.
Thanks!
Please do a MGMT - Congratulations
will do!
May I nominate a record? Your subscribers might appreciate “Soular Energy” - The Ray Brown Trio featuring Gene Harris on Piano. That is if it meets your criteria, I think it might. Either way I think it’s very fine music and certainly the SQ is very very good. Its maybe from strange era for Jazz.
Hi. I don’t know it but - hey, I’ll give it a listen and add it to the playlist
listening to Ray Brown - lovely! Thanks
Hello. I can’t find the Spotify playlist you mention. Thanks.
Dear Carlos, the link is at the bottom of the description of the video, but I include it again here: enjoy. open.spotify.com/playlist/1Bcm27pFxOwVlIkYtDtqUf?si=cTVh_MINR8qeiwiqQcK0Cw
@@PearlAcoustics thanks! Following.
I propose for review the album "Bass Room" by Nenad Vasilic!
OK! I will give it a listen and add it to the Spotify 'Great Recordings' playlist. Thanks!
You have a great recordings play list? There's me going through all the comments looking for these albums.
When is the next video?
Thanks for the question. 2 November I release my next video - a review of the VMV-A1 class ‘A’ amplifier. Then mid November, I will release my next great recording video.
@@PearlAcoustics thanks, I'm hanging out for the next great recording.
I've run out of videos of Harley Lovegrove! Noooo!
😀. There are more on the way
Beautiful recording: Nenad Vasilic - Bassroom
👍
Love ur videos!
I propose you to listen to " Cheb Mami - Dellali"
Thanks! I will check out your suggestion!
Don't know why you deleted my comment. I just wanted to thank you and propose that you listen to 'Cape town revisited' live, my favourite Abdullah Ibrahim album. The sound of this live recording is just wonderful.
Hi Nicolas. Thank you for trying again. I certainly didn’t delete your comment. In fact I spent an hour trying to research how to get it to show (I could see it in my inbox but it would not allow me to reply or display it)! I believe that RUclips have put in a filter that bans comments with links! I will certainly give your suggestion a close listen AND add it to my Spotify playlist in the description! Thanks again. Best wishes. H.
It must have been the link indeed. Thank you for your kind answer. Keep up the nice videos 😃, it's a pleasure to learn things with you. Cheers from Brussels.
@@Tewac7051 😉 - cheers from down the road. Thanks for your kind remarks.
@@Tewac7051 listening to Abdullah Ibrahim right now. Very nice choice - love it. Thanks.
Pitty it is not on Qobuz
Indeed! I was surprised myself.
No music?
No, sorry we didn’t play music when this was recorded, for fear of being blocked. That’s obviously changed now.
@@PearlAcoustics Ahhh.
I like the discussion, but here our tastes different diametrically. Bach on piano is a crime, IMHO. The Brandenburg 5 on piano is a high crime. The percussive and precise nature of the harpsichord is dulled and smudged by the piano, regardless of the player. It is the wrong instrument. Plucked vs hammered strings makes all the difference in the world. There is intrinsic subtlety and precision in the harpsichord (in capable hands, such as Tisha Maybee of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra), that the piano cannot even approach. That may well explain the "hand off" of the piano to drum in the more fast&furious passages, as the piano would just make mush out of it. Sometimes, the original is still the best.
Dear Daniel, thank you for your comment. Isn’t this the great thing about art, that one can debate, challenge and see the world from different angles? I believe we need to experience’ experimentation’ otherwise we can’t compare, or maybe even understand. I grew up only knowing harpsichord versions and my father certainly would have frowned upon any attempt on piano. Your plucked versus hit, is a great point. And you use the perfect word: ‘tastes’ - I know how broad your taste in music is and that, I am sure, came from experimentation and taking risks!
I wonder what your single ‘great recording’ would be? Thanks again for your important contribution. H
@@PearlAcoustics Dear Harley, I completely agree on experimentation; as a scientist I do that quite a bit. But some experiments are failures, done plenty of those as well. There are also fashions and fads, many of which are counterproductive. One related to the clean harpsichord vs. smudged piano is the vibrato. Most people are not aware that it was considered an *ornament*, by Bach ranked in position 13 (!), but now is slathered as sauce all over. Listen to HIPP performance without vibrato but more messa di voce. At first it will be unfamiliar and may sound flat. However, it accentuates harmonies (and dissonances), which the dreaded shaking affliction muddles, like the piano muddles the clean attack fo the harpsichord. Add gut strings with much richer sound, and it is jaw dropping. I had the good fortune of hearing the Netherland Bach Society perform the Mass in B minor in Berkley. WOW, just WOW. Tafelmusik's performances are always a treat as well. One of the NBS and TM violinists are also bow makers and I got a couple of baroque bows from them, so that is the connection.
I also completely agree on tastes. Please enjoy the Loussier CD. You clearly love it. Thanks for sharing it. I do like to expand my horizon and occasionally surprise myself of liking something. This one, however, is not one of them.
@@danielgeiger7739 I can remember when I first heard ‘The ancient academy of music’ and I thought ‘oh my god why?!’ 30 years on - not only has the standard risen but my brain has got used to non vibrato. However, I do insist on good intonation, within reason! We are blessed over here in Europe, with so many excellent traditional / authentic ensembles. I will be recording some in the Spring, not sure the repertoire yet. Will let you know! Happy Sunday.
@@PearlAcoustics Completely agree on intonation! Otherwise harmonies are not clean. There are some special issues with natural flute, trumpet, or tromba marina; I see that as character, not flaw.
With pre-romantic music, the art is to play beyond the written score, and this is where the performer's artistry can shine. Early HIPP was certainly too literal; modern scholarship and performance has opened that up quite a bit, with trill variations, articulation, etc all taking the music to new/old glory. The space opened up by tossing vibrato is filled with more fitting and interesting musical devices. I like to play pieces for which there is no recording, so I cannot be led in one or the other direction. It is up to me to play the piece and see what seems fitting (and within my limited abilities). So much fun! "Anonymous" is one of my favorite composers, because nobody wants to record it.
I love jazz and like Bach, but this combination doesn't work for me, as least in the context of Jacques Loussier's interpretation. It doesn't swing like Basie, doesn't possess the combination of harmonic novelty and nuanced touch of Evans, nor does it have the relatability of Hancock. To each their own, I suppose.
Thanks for your comment. You are certainly not alone in your views. Loussier grabbed me the first time I heard him (around the age if 12). Many of my classical and jazz friends feel the same, that somehow it’s ‘watered down’. Personally, I love it, as I guess you can tell! What single recording would you put forward as ‘great’?
@@PearlAcoustics Thank you for your reply. 'Great' In terms of recording quality, musical quality, or the best combination of the two? Or possibly because it can be singled out as its unexpectedly great?
@@terrywho22 the definition of ‘great’ I suggested in my previous video ‘what makes a great recording?’ Was great great music and great recording.
@@PearlAcoustics Sorry, your previous vid did not show up in my notification stream. I'll go back and watch it today. A very difficult task to name a single recording, but I would say that Billy Holiday's "All or Nothing at All" is great in every measurable way. Incredible musicians, wonderful almost tangible recording, and of course nothing short of a stunning vocal performance by arguably the greatest jazz singer of all time. I prefer the 45 RPM version, but the recording quality shines through in other formats. Now, that said, have you heard Oliver Nelson's "Blues and the Abstract Truth"? If not, I think you would really enjoy it. If you have, isn't it fantastic?
@@terrywho22 oh my goodness - you’ve hit a nerve! Billy Holliday, she’s absolutely the best in my book. I find her so intense, I have to listen only once in a while. Never heard of Oliver Nelson. Trust me, I will certainly give him a deep listen. Thank you 🙏
It's years since I listened to Jacques Loussier - so I'll chase this album down. This review reminded me of how much Baroque music has connections with jazz - and that in turn reminded me (from a later musical era) of a discovery a few years ago of Boccherini's String Quintets - more specifically the "Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid". See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musica_notturna_delle_strade_di_Madrid. Unusually it has two cellos - and the composer uses one cello almost as a kind of 'rhythm section'. The only recording I know of it (and it's a good one) is by Cuarteto Casals on Harmonia Mundi (HMC 902092).