His works are inspired by poets like Grace Schulman and Christian Bobin, spiritual authors like St. John of the Cross or Etty Hillesum, writers like Georges Simenon or Hermann Hesse, painters like Henri Matisse or Jean-Michel Basquiat, or photographers like Nan Goldin or Diane Arbus.

[4] In 1997, Jacques Burtin meets Susan Allen, harpist, professor of harp and improvisation at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts).

After the death of Susan Allen, Jacques Burtin pays tribute to the American harpist by creating a dedicated website[5] with unreleased testimonies, musical creations specially written by composers of all horizons and unpublished videos of their Paris sessions (harp and kora improvisations).

Between 2002 and 2012, Jacques Burtin gives seminars on Improvisation and Interdisciplinary Creation in the Faculty of Fine Arts School of the University of Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain, in collaboration with Spanish Choreographer Alicia Gómez Linares.

On 12 May 2006 his music is featured among the works of twelve composers from around the world in Sonic Channels, a concert hosted by the New School University and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.