Picture Perfect Morning

Pure Prairie League came Bustin’ Out in 1970 with hit love song “Amie,” and riding the country rock highway with songs like “Early Morning Riser,” “Two Lane Highway,” “Kentucky Moonshine,” and “I’ll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle.” Over the last 50 years, new members have shuffled in and out of the band. And now, with Back on Track, the band’s first studio album in almost 20 years, the new incarnation of Pure Prairie League features drummer Scott Thompson, keyboardist Randy Harper, guitarist Jeffrey Zona, bassist Jared Camic, and original member, pedal steel player John David Call.

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")….