Jacques Loussier turns 80 in the autumn and ahead of the French pianist’s birthday two new compilation albums are to be released in late-July by the Telarc label. Loussier is known mainly for his Play Bach Trio formed in 1959, and in the course of his career has chalked up some six million albums sold. His version of Bach’s ‘Air on a G String’ became famous through a cigarette ad run on TV for some 35 years. The two new collections are a pair of 2-CD sets featuring Loussier’s own favourite selections, the first concentrating on Bach titled My Personal Favorites: The Jacques Loussier Trio Plays Bach; the second, stepping further into classical music in Beyond Bach: Other Composers I Adore.

_{Jacques Loussier, above. Photo: Wikipedia}