The audience is ecstatic, on their feet and prepared to clap until their hands become raw. Anybody arriving on the scene at this moment would be excused for imagining that this is the end of a noisy rock concert; it is unusual for relatively quiet, intimate music to elicit such a noisy, enthusiastic response. The musicians return to the stage for their fifth bow, and the noise of the audience increases again. The three men on stage exchange glances, the leader gives an imperceptible shrug, and Vincent Charbonnier, a 24-year-old who has just proven himself to be a virtuoso, picks up his double bass and starts playing Bach’s Chorale Prelude No. 1 In D. Pianist Jacques Loussier and drummer Andre Arpino exchange mischievous glances, flick a high note and a triangle, respectively, in unison in the fourth and eighth bars, and then ease into a gentle accompaniment. At the end […]

September 1986 Issue