When the world-renowned Canadian pianist came to Villingen in 1961, there was a mood of intense excitement all round. Hans-Georg Brunner-Schwer (HGBS), former owner of the hifi dynasty SABA who died in 2004, had just set up the first version of his studio, equipped with the most advanced recording technology of the time, above the living-room in his villa. This was the bait used by the piano enthusiast to attract the famous pianist to the Black Forest. After a guest performance in Zurich, Peterson climbed into a limousine and embarked on a journey across the mountains. As soon as he arrived, along with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen, the international star was led to the Steinway grand in the living-room where a number of excited guests were eagerly waiting. "I listened to him play 'til four o'clock in the morning and lost the desire to ever hear the Beatles again!", says Matthias Brunner-Schwer, HGBS' son, still starry-eyed half a century later. The legendary pianist himself was equally delighted when he listened to the recording of the nocturnal living-room performance, never before having heard such a direct and pristine piano sound on tape.
Oscar Peterson’s trio with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen is widely regarded as Peterson’s “classic trio,” considered by fans as the most popular and in-demand of his long and storied career (featured on releases such as 1963’s Night Train and 1964’s We Get Requests). Recorded during their creative peak in 1964 (5 years into their collaboration), this previously unheard and unreleased live performance is destined to become a fan favorite from the Oscar Peterson vaults.
This set contains three of the 1951/52 and 1959 songbooks Peterson recorded for Norman Granz. The 1951 tracks feature Peterson on piano, accompanied by Barney Kessel on guitar and Ray Brown on bass. The first disc in this set is the Cole Porter songbook. The 1951 tracks were recorded for the Mercury label and stretched out over three sessions in Los Angeles in November 1951, and February and December 1952. The 1959 tracks were recorded in a marathon session for Verve at the Universal Recording studio in Chicago between July 14 and August 9, 1959. Disc Two is the Ellington songbook that was recorded in Los Angeles for Mercury in December 1952 and Verve during the Chicago session. Disc Three is the Gershwin songbook that was recorded during the same time frames and locations as the Ellington one.
The group that Oscar Peterson led between 1953-58 with guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown was one of the great piano trios of all time. It was never so much a matter of Peterson having two other musicians accompany him as it was that they could meet the pianist as near-equals and consistently inspire him. And unlike most trios, Peterson's had many arranged sections that constantly needed rehearsals and were often quite dazzling. This live double-CD from 1955 has previously unreleased (and unknown) performances of 31 songs (28 standards plus three of Peterson's originals) that were released for the first time in 1994. The pianist is often in typically miraculous form, Ellis (whether playing harmonies, offering short solos or getting his guitar to sound like a conga by tapping it percussively) proves to be a perfect partner, and Brown's subtle but sometimes telepathic contributions should not be overlooked either.
Ne-o-clas-si-cism: A revival of classical aesthetics and forms, especially, characterized by a regard for the classical ideals of reason, form, and restraint, by order, symmetry, and simplicity of style. Neo-classicism and Roy Hargrove have become synonymous in jazz circles. His style and focus are now completely his own. Roy possesses a hard driving spirit to excel. Volumes have been written about the virtuosity of Oscar Peterson, his competitive spirit and drive. Together you have the makings of an exciting jam session that's well worth the price of admission. In this case the cost of the CD, that finds these two jazz poets working with a strong cast of players including Peterson's long time associate, Neils-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass. This quintet setting gives all the players ample room to stretch and have fun. This CD is highly recommended listening pleasure.
Pianist Oscar Peterson has made a remarkable number of records through the years and his two songbook series for Verve (each recording features the songs of a different composer) were extensive, to say the least. During 1952-54 he cut ten albums (113 songs) and in 1959 he added nine more records (108 songs), in addition to his regular busy activities. Because these were essentially easy-listening sets with concise interpretations that always kept the melodies of the composers close by, they are not considered Peterson's greatest work but they are enjoyable in their own right. This particular two-CD set has some of the highlights from these marathon projects, most of which (the Gershwin songbooks excepted) had never been out on CD before…
This double album matches and mixes together four masterful musicians: pianist Oscar Peterson, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Niels Pedersen and harmonica great Toots Thielemans. Together they perform O.P.'s "City Lights" and ten veteran standards with creativity, wit and solid swing. There are a few miraculous moments as one would expect from musicians of this caliber and the results are generally quite memorable.
The material here was recorded for the Verve and MPS labels, and this two-disc, import retrospective of the work of legendary pianist Oscar Peterson is not only representative, but solid from top to bottom, showcasing many of his finest moments on wax in both live and studio recordings with his great trio of Herb Ellis and Ray Brown as well as in other settings. This is as fine an introduction as there is and, for the money, simply cannot be beaten.
Born 25th August, 1925 in Montreal, Canada, Oscar Emmanuel Peterson grew up in Little Burgundy, a predominantly black neighbourhood in greater Quebec. He took up piano and trumpet at age five, quickly becoming adept on both instruments. At seven he was diagnosed with tuberculosis which prevented him from playing the trumpet, he thus concentrated on the piano during this time, practising four to six hours a day. Studying under the Hungarian-born player Paul de Marky - himself a student of virtuoso Istvan Thoman - the young Oscar began learning classical piano but later switched to jazz styles, most notably 'boogie-woogie'. By 1961, with the piano-bass-drums line up now firmly established, the OPT performed a week's residency at The London House, a renowned jazz spot in Chicago. These performances were among the finest the new line-up ever gave, and were released on Verve as four separate albums; The Trio, Something Warm, The Sound Of The Trio and Put On A Happy Face, in '61 and early '62. The following year, Peterson's most commercially successful record Night Train (Verve, 1963), was released, another Trio masterpiece that due to its shorter track times, received considerable radio play.
One of the great piano masters of all time, Oscar Peterson scores on this wonderful collection of three discs. Put simply, if you are a fan, this is just what you expect from Mr. Peterson, top notch interpretations of a wide variety of classic songs. As they say, when Oscar plays it, oftentimes it's as though you've never heard it before!