Oscar Brown

When Jim Davis started producing records at Verve, he changed the company's recording philosophy toward its most prolific instrumentalist. Where Norman Granz had produced countless Oscar Peterson albums dedicated to the popular song, Davis was more interested in making albums closer to how the Peterson trio sounded live. His first Peterson records were the legendary London House sessions. By the time of this album, there had been no personnel change in the trio for five years - so it is no surprise that the rapport among the musicians here is telepathic.

This 1959 release from Oscar Peterson is one of several albums he recorded in the 1950s dedicated to specific composers. On this collection Peterson revisits several of the Harold Arlen songs he included on a previous album years earlier, in a trio configuration here backed by bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen.

This 1959 release features pianist Oscar Peterson's interpretations of some of Cole Porter's best known and most popular songs, one of several albums Peterson recorded in the 1950s dedicated to specific composers. The pianist is backed by bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen.

Oscar Peterson performs works popularized by Frank Sinatra. Including hit songs "You Make Me Feel So Young", "I Get a Kick Out of You" and more!

This 1959 release from pianist Oscar Peterson is one of several albums he recorded in the 1950s dedicated to specific composers. Peterson revisits many of the same songs he included on an earlier Gershwin album, backed on these sessions by Ray Brown on double bass and drummer Ed Thigpen.

One of the first Broadway musical scores to be overtly jazz-influenced was Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story", a tale of rival street gangs in the inner city. In 1962, pianist Oscar Peterson put his light-swing signature on the already popular score, making it, in the words of one critic, 'a delight to hear again' and earning him a Grammy nomination.

Oscar Peterson has thoroughly assimilated not just every piano style that preceded him buy every ensemble idiom as well: swinging big bands, gospel, European classical, and, of course, the blues. Having mastered all of this, Peterson found the standard piano trio the perfect vehicle for exploring all of these types of music. In this classic album, the crowning achievement in his greatest year, Peterson doesn't just explore these styles – he conquers them. "Night Train" is one of Peterson's most commercially successful recordings.

This 1959 release from Oscar Peterson is dedicated to Harry Warren and Vincent Youmans, one of several Song Book albums the pianist recorded in the 1950s. While not exactly household names, both Warren and Youmans are credited for writing many familiar songs and standards, as demonstrated here by Peterson and his trio of bassist Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen on drums.

Before he left us in July 2, 2002, Ray Brown reigned as the king of jazz bassists for over five decades. As a disciple of Oscar Pettiford and Jimmy Blanton, Brown's sturdy tone, impeccable technique, and swinging drive propelled Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson, and countless other jazz stars to fame. On this CD, his 18th recording for the Telarc label and his fifth in his celebrated Best Friends series, Brown is joined by the young guitar wizard Russell Malone and the lyrical, Jamaican-born pianist Monty Alexander. The drumless lineup is a tribute to the groundbreaking trios Brown lead with Oscar Peterson, and the music is simply remarkable. With Alexander's flowing pianisms shadowed by Malone's articulate guitar work, Brown's deep grooves are only topped by his flawless melodic ideas.