 Jarre struggled with classical piano studies , although he later changed teachers and worked on his scales . A more general interest in musical instruments was sparked by his discovery at the Saint @-@ Ouen flea market , where his mother sold antiques , of a Boris Vian trumpet violin . He often accompanied his mother to Le Chat Qui Pêche ( The Fishing Cat ) , a friend 's Paris jazz club , where saxophonists Archie Shepp and John Coltrane , and trumpet players Don Cherry and Chet Baker were regular performers . These early jazz experiences suggested to him that music may be " descriptive , without lyrics " . He was also influenced by the work of French artist Pierre Soulages , whose exhibition at the Musée d 'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris he attended . Soulages ' paintings used multiple textured layers , and Jarre realised that " for the first time in music , you could act as a painter with frequencies and sounds . " He was also influenced by classical , modernist music ; in a 2004 interview for The Guardian , he spoke of the effect that a performance of Stravinsky 's The Rite of Spring had upon him : 
