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I'm a big fan of Tomita, when I heard his, "Pictures at an Exhibition" in 1976 (IIRC) I thought it was fabulous and I still do.

I don't have a problem with jazz versions of classics, as long as they are credited as such.

Provided people know what they are going to see or hear they can make their own choice.

I had never heard of Jacques Loussier but he seems very good.

I have a Roland RD 700 NX and love experimenting with string quartet versions of pop/rock and classical.

Bach's Bouree cries out for jazzing, to me, at least.

This is not me, I don't have,
A) A Baby Grand
B) A room that tidy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RU_2utHzs8

Here's an interesting video in the context of "un-jazzing".

Go to about 10 minutes 40 secs ( Although you may find the whole thing worth watching) in for demonstration on reversing Jazz to Baroque, short but fascinating.

Bach crops up again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3yzH861MDY

I like this - Bobo Stenson explores a theme by Purcell ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jloHFsaOdZs

and this - Gwilym Simcock explores a theme by Greig ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDvtX1BlxPQ

Thanks for all the responses so far and any additional ones which are forthcoming!

I wish some of these jazz pianists would do some classically oriented recordings but still preserving their sometimes unique sense of rhythm and timing. I've learned a lot from listening to jazz musicians and studying their work which includes such things as ragtime, such as with Scott Joplin who in his recordings did not adhere very strictly to his music in its published form - and it seems that the great classical pianist-composers of the past who we revere were the same in that respect at least until very recent times.

p.s. - Thanks for the Gwilym Simcock link, and others . . .


M.

And as well Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris movie uses Tomita's The Sea Named "Solaris" with the familiar Bach organ chorale prelude. I couldn't find the desired excerpt on youtube, but Tarkovsky seems to have been quite adept at matching music to a cinematic image:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YZ909wp_hw
(the music doesn't begin until about 1:30)

There is a lot in his book "Sculpting in Time" that might be of interest to pianists and musicians in a very general way if one reads between the lines . . . the book wouldn't normally considered to be in any way about music but I learned a lot from it.

Andrei Tarkovsky was such a genius!


M.