Joe Pass & Herb Ellis

Oscar Peterson - The Complete Songbooks 1951-1955 (2007) {6CD Box Set United Archives NUA04}
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© 1951-55, 2007 United Archives | NUA04
Jazz / Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Piano

The Songbooks inherited from the musical tradition of Broadway are at the epicentre of Oscar Peterson´s musical culture; this was also the case for the one he regarded as a master : Art Tatum. It was to the extent that Oscar Peterson recorded them twice. The first time was at the beginning of 1950s principly as a Trio with guitar and double bass, then a second time with double bass and drums a few years later. It is this first wonderful remastered series that is presented to you here. Technical mastery, irresistible swing, constant inventivness and a remarkable complicity with Ray Brown, Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis characterise this sum of inexhaustible richness.

Part of a Fantasy sampler series that features musicians (and in this case a notable vocalist) performing the blues, this CD features Ella Fitzgerald on 11 performances taken from a variety of sessions. Although she never specialized in the blues, Ella had no difficulty swinging over blues changes and sometimes putting strong emotion into the lowdown variety. There is one song apiece from the 1950s and '60s, while the remainder of the program dates from 1971-1979.

While it's true that Oscar Peterson compilations appeared with regularity form the early '60s on, only a few of them – as with most recording artists – have any real merit. This two-disc collection from the Concord Music Group's Telarc label, is one of them. Appearing less than a year before his death, this compilation concentrates on recordings issued from the '50s through the middle of the '80s on Dizzy Gillespie's Pablo label, and those made for Telarc between 1990 and 2000. Many live dates are included here from both labels, including "Tenderly" with Herb Ellis and Ray Brown at the J.A.T.P. concerts in Japan; the trio dates at Zardi's in 1955 ("How High the Moon"), in Copenhagen with Joe Pass, Stéphane Grappelli, and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen in 1979, and Mickey Roker in 1979 ("Nuages")….

This guitar duo, which performs frequently on the European jazz scene, involves a pair of Sweden's best jazz guitarists. Ulf Wakenius can claim ownership of a prestigious throne in the international jazz guitar kingdom. Since 1997, he has been guitarist in the Oscar Peterson Quartet, which at least suggests a passing knowledge of every chord substitution known to mankind. He follows in the footsteps of such legends as Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, and Joe Pass. The other member of the Swedish Guitars Unlimited is Peter Almqvist, and while he can't boast of gigging with Oscar Peterson, he has recorded with pianist Horace Parlan which actually is preferable to many jazz fans. The group has performed for several decades, building from the initial sensational fan base that was created when the guitarists first combined forces in 1980 in their picturesque hometown on the Gota river…