Oscar Keys

Pianist Oscar Peterson is frequently astounding on this solo set. After nearly 20 years of mostly performing with trios, Peterson sounds quite liberated in this setting, throwing in some hot stride, unexpected changes in tempos and keys, and surprises whenever he thinks of them. "Give Me the Simple Life," "Honeysuckle Rose," and the ironically titled "A Little Jazz Exercise" are quite remarkable, yet Peterson also leaves space for some sensitive ballads.

Oscar Peterson - Remastered Anniversary Edition: Reissue of the nine celebrated MPS studio albums, recorded in Germany in the 1970s. Accompanying Oscar Peterson's 80th birthday on August 15, 2005. For the first time reissued with original cover artwork and original liner notes. Featuring new liner notes by Dr. Richard Palmer, co-author of the Oscar Peterson autobiography My Jazz Odyssey. New 192kHz/24-bit remastering, supervised by original album producer Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer.

At the height of his popularity, pianist Oscar Levant was the highest-paid concert artist in America. He outdrew Horowitz and Rubinstein, with whom he shared the distinction of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He performed under conductors including Toscanini, Beecham, Mitropoulos, Reiner and Ormandy, and was the definitive interpreter of his friend George Gershwin. Levant's 1945 recording of Rhapsody in Blue remained one of Columbia Records' best-selling albums for decades. That classic interpretation and all his other recordings for the label, spanning the years 1942 to 1958, have now been collected in this set: painstakingly restored and remastered from the original analogue discs and tapes, the vast majority of them are appearing for the first time ever on CD.

Although Ramsey Lewis gained his initial fame as a jazz pianist, many of his records (including this one) are really more in the R&B field. The soul vocals, acid jazz rhythms and tinkling piano result in superior background music and there are some good moments (such as Grover Washington, Jr.'s soprano on "Sun Goddess 2000") but Ramsey Lewis is capable of much better. A strictly commercial effort that succeeds more as dance music than as creative jazz.

Oscar Peterson & Joe Pass - Porgy And Bess (1976) {Pablo OJCCD-829-2 rel 2006}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 244 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 101 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1976, 2006 Pablo Records / Fantasy / Universal | OJCCD-829-2 / 00025218682923
Jazz / Bop / Clavichord / Guitar

To me, what Peterson did with the clavichord is brilliant. At times it sounds like a funky fretted instrument, maybe a mandolin. It's neither harpsichord nor piano. Historically, clavichord predates both. By pressing the keys harder, the player can actually bend strings like a blues guitarist. But clavichord is not a loud instrument– even an acoustic guitar can overpower it. Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass are, of course, masters. The playing is top notch (the album was recorded in a single studio session). Harmonically they don't take Gershwin anyplace he hasn't been before, but their assured feel combined with the novel acoustic blend make this album a constant delight.

Jimmy Smith wasn't the first organ player in jazz, but no one had a greater influence with the instrument than he did; Smith coaxed a rich, grooving tone from the Hammond B-3, and his sound and style made him a top instrumentalist in the 1950s and '60s, while a number of rock and R&B keyboardists would learn valuable lessons from Smith's example. James Oscar Smith was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania on December 8, 1928 (some sources cite his birth year as 1925). Smith's father was a musician and entertainer, and young Jimmy joined his song-and-dance act when he was six years old.

In this magnificent collection presented melodies performed by these masters of jazz piano: Scott Joplin, James P. Johnson, Eubie Blake, Mandy Randolph, Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Joe Sullivan, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk, Nat King Cole and many, many others …

Once in a while, an album comes along to take your breath away. That is certainly the case with this boxed set, which contains no fewer than 25 CDs tracing the history of jazz piano from early 1899 to the end of 1958. Several years ago, the same record company issued a set ten CDs covering some of the same ground, but this expanded version is even more amazing.