Early in his career, Loussier was an accompanist for the singers Frank Alamo, Charles Aznavour, Léo Ferré and Catherine Sauvage. In 1959, he formed the Jacques Loussier Trio with string bass player Pierre Michelot—who had played with Django Reinhardt and the Quintette du Hot Club de France—and percussionist Christian Garros. They used Bach's compositions as a base for jazz improvisation and made many live appearances, tours, and concerts, as well as a number of recordings. The trio began with Decca Records but changed to Philips/Phonogram in 1973. They sold over six million albums in 15 years. Their best known recording is "Air on the G String", which was used to advertise the Hamlet brand of cigar in the UK for over 30 years.