LAST year Jean Michel Jarre toured to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of his worldwide best-selling album Oxygene, and now he’s back again to play Up Close And Personal.

Not known for his touring, the French keyboard wizard — son of Award-winning film composer Maurice Jarre, who died recently — has a reputation for studio-based music thanks to his instrumental albums such as Oxygene, Equinoxe, Zoolook, Rendez-Vous and Chronologie.

His multi-layered keyboards defined the electronic genre and many of his albums have sold in the millions.

On the live front, his concerts have been few but spectacular, usually using whole buildings as backdrops, and he has broken the records for concert attendances on more than one occasion.

He is now embarking on what is only his fifth tour.

“Because of the one-off, city-scale concerts I devised early on in my career, I never really missed the idea of touring,” said Jarre, 60.

“But I enjoy the challenge of working on a large scale event and being transported by the adrenalin rush of the single performance.”

Speaking during a skiing holiday in the French Alps, Jarre eplained: “It’s an indispensable break that gets me through the year.”

He said his last tour has changed his attitude to performing live.

“For the 30th anniversary of Oxygene I toured European theatres with a minimalist performance of the album on analogue synthesisers,” he said.

“Meeting a new audience every night and enjoying performing live night after night grew on me. It suddenly hit me that I was missing something, so here I am, back on the road.”

With a composer father and a grandfather who was one of the inventors of the first audio mixing consoles, there have been many musical influences in his life.

“I have been influenced by many musical genres from an early age, from classical during my days at the Conservatoire de Paris, to more obscure movements such as Musique Concrete when I joined the Musical Research Group, jazz and pop too. Never a day goes by without music.”

During his Oxygene tour, Jarre performed at Manchester’s Opera House, and it has stuck in his memory.

“What a fantastic place," he said. “I felt like I went through a time machine and was transported a few centuries back in time — that theatre has such a magical feel.

“I want to make a success of this first world tour for me and enjoy every night on-stage as if it were the only one, and share my enjoyment with all those who come out.”

l Jean Michel Jarre will be appearing at the Manchester Arena on Saturday, May 23.