Born in Berlin to a French father and an American mother, Terrasson is a talented young pianist who has already performed with a host of international jazz stars including Dee Dee Bridgewater and Barney Wilen. He left France ten years ago, re-locating across the Atlantic to pursue his career in the States, but although he embraces New York as international music Mecca, Terrasson admits he misses a few essential things about France. In the course of our interview at the offices of the famous Blue Note label in New York, Terrasson talked about his early influences, his new album and his ongoing love affair with two very different cultures.

Did a pianist or a piano feature prominently in your childhood – or did you just drink some kind of magic music potion when you were a kid?
No, it's true. There was always a piano at home when I was growing up. My father was a professional pianist, you see, and every weekend he'd sit down at the piano and play these amazing sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. As everyone seemed to think I had some talent of my own I began playing the piano at the age of five. Actually, I was more or less made to have piano lessons…
I grew up surrounded by classical music from an early age. But what's always counted for me is the piano as an instrument not the style of music played on it. My father was very strict with me when I first began playing. Every day he'd check with my mother to see whether I'd practised my scales or not … (sighs) It used to get on my nerves at the time, but I thank him for it now! The thing that used to upset me at the time was that my piano lessons were on Wednesday afternoons when all my friends were off playing football. My piano lessons wreaked havoc with my social life as a kid – they were a real pain for me!
I had my first jazz lessons with Jeff Gardner, an ex-pat American pianist living in Paris. He had this other pupil whose father, Francis Baudras, went on to become a very important person in my life. It was a bit like I was his 'spiritual' son. Gardner acted as a real mentor for me, getting me to listen to all kinds of different music and introducing me to the work of different musicians.

How did someone from a classical background such as yours end up becoming such a passionate jazz fan?
I didn't make any kind of distinction between different genres when I was young – it all came under the general heading of music! I suppose the basic difference was that classical music was something I was taught, whereas jazz was something I discovered for myself listening to records. I remember I'd sit down at the piano after listening to my jazz records and pick out different solos on my piano. I'd really sit there and play around with the music. It was only when I started listening to jazz records seriously that I fell in love with the music. I'd sit there and ask myself, "Man, how do they do that?"
I started playing around and improvising pretty early on in the piece. I'd deliberately try not to read the music in front of me. Believe me, learning classical music can be a long, painstaking process! I became a big fan of improvisation after that and in the end it got to the point where I'd improvise over anything - from a piece of blues to a boogie!

Given your Atlantic-hopping career, do you feel American when you're in Paris and French when you're in New York ?
No. I definitely feel American when I'm over here and French when I'm in Paris. I feel like I've got a foothold in both countries.

Don't you ever miss France?
I miss the quality of life people have in France, both the general rhythm of life and the lifestyle. I miss my friends and things from my childhood too. Americans have tried to copy a lot of French things over here, but they've never really got it right! What I love is going out to a café with friends and chatting away for a couple of hours, putting the world to rights. You don't get to do that kind of thing over here. It's not the same – people have a more superficial kind of relationship with one another over here. People know how to take the time to enjoy life in France. They're a lot less stressed than people over here …
The other thing is, I'm a bit of a gourmet. There's nothing I enjoy more than going out to a restaurant with friends and having a good meal. And I must admit it's nice to be able to invite other people out to dinner without it costing an arm and a leg! You can eat really well in New York, but restaurants are much more expensive over here. So you see, those are the little things I miss about France. And speaking French too, I really miss that … To cut a long story short, I love France and I adore Paris!!!

Was the fact you called your new album A Paris a way of expressing a certain kind of homesickness?
No – I've had this album at the back of my mind for the last ten years now! You know, the really great thing about working on the album was that the American musicians I recorded with didn't have fixed ideas about how things should be played – and that meant I was able to bring something totally new to the music. I must admit, I'm pretty happy with the result. And even more so because I've managed to bring to life an idea which has been buzzing around my head for all these years!
You'll notice my new album features a version of the Marseillaise – and before anyone gets the wrong idea about it, I'd just like to point out that I chose to include it because I really love the melody line. It's not there for any patriotic reasons! I just think the Marseillaise has got a really superb melody to it. But I have to say, like a lot of people, I find the lyrics a bit much.

Generally speaking, do your fans consider you as a French musician or an American one?
Ah, now that's the great mystery! I've noticed that in France my records are stocked in the 'French jazz' section. But I think it would be great if stores had a section devoted to Franco-American artists (laughs).

What does jazz mean in the Jacky Terrasson scheme of things?
For me, jazz is a way of life. It's not just a musical genre, it's a lifestyle which corresponds to the present moment. I don't know why, but I've always associated jazz with a certain kind of honesty, too – maybe because it's an art form. I mean, imagine going along to a club to listen to a musician you love on Tuesday night and you love it so much you go back again on Wednesday or Thursday night. But the thing is, you'll never get the same emotion two nights running. And that, for me, is one of the fundamental values of jazz.

When you're a committed jazz musician such as yourself, do you stay a jazz musician all your life?
If you really love jazz, you do, yes! It's the music that keeps me going, you know, that really makes me feel alive. And all I can say is, I hope I stay in love with jazz for many more years to come!