You've had it easy these last few weeks. Sometimes I missed the MMM, and most often I posted cool but essentially unchallenging stuff to listen to. Not so this week.
Not that Jacques Loussier's rewriting of the Bach repertoire for jazz trio are exactly demanding, we're not talking abstract dodecaphonic music here. But still, this Pastorale in C Minor features a nine minute double bass solo, so I'll probably lose a few of you along the way (I'm thinking of Arnaud, specifically, but there may be others...)
Still, this track, especially the album version on Jacques Loussier Plays Bach (which features a different double bass player and a more concise solo) is an absolute gem that I fell in love with litterally at first hearing. I don't even think I'd ever heard Bach's Pastorale in C Minor before, but this is just so springy, and beautifully melodic, I absolutely love it.
I won't get into the whole debate that raged some years back on Loussier's work. I understand that the interpretations he did in the 60s and that made him famous were largely formulaic. But these recordings, especially the 90s stuff with Vincent Charbonnier on bass and André Arpineau on drums, it's superb. Just give that record a try, it doesn't demean Bach by any means, it elevates him to a status of misunderstood genius.
Clearly the best part is the nine minute bass solo. Absolutly great solo work here.
Still I'm not fond of that "third way" stuff (jazzmen playing classic music) and that tune didn't make me change my mind. I like the jazzy parts, but not the attempts to make Bach swings. And the drumming, I just didn't get the point.
So thanks for the nine minutes of great double bass, and for me too bad for the other four.
Posted by: Seagull | January 29, 2008 at 04:30 PM