Oscar Peterson a Night in Vienna

Oscar Peterson has continued to fill concert halls - for good reason - following his return after a serious stroke in 1993. This 2003 concert, recorded in Vienna, shows a packed house enthusiastically applauding the veteran pianist and his quartet, which includes old friends Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass, drummer Martin Drew, and the relative youngster of the group, guitarist Ulf Wakenius. In spite of the damage the stroke did to Peterson's once powerful left hand, he has hardly lost his ability to swing hard; he simply relies more heavily on his right hand and the strong support of his group. The 11 songs from this concert are dominated by Peterson's originals, including old favorites like his gospel-inflected "Hymn to Freedom" and "Wheatland" (from his Canadiana Suite) and new works like the tender ballad "When Summer Comes"…

To celebrate the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Di of England, Oscar Peterson composed a ten-song suite that he performs on this album while accompanied by an unidentified string orchestra arranged by Rick Wilkins. Not too surprisingly Peterson (who doubles here on electric piano) proves to be a talented composer and, even if none of the individual pieces caught on (or was ever apparently recorded again by the pianist), the music on a whole is quite satisfying.

Pianist Oscar Peterson's final Pablo album (after a countless amount of appearances as both a leader and a sideman) features his quartet (which at the time included guitarist Joe Pass, bassist David Young and drummer Martin Drew) on the second of two CDs (along with Oscar Peterson Live) recorded during an engagement at Los Angeles's Westwood Playhouse in Nov. 1986. For the well-rounded set Peterson performs two of his originals, the blues "Soft Winds," a solo ballad medley and, as a climax, a burning version of "On the Trail."

Pianist Oscar Peterson made so many recordings for Norman Granz's Pablo label (and was so consistent) that while all of his records are recommended, it is difficult to pick out any one as the definitive or essential release. This two-CD set (a straight reissue of the original two-LP release) features Peterson with an all-star trio, a unit comprised of guitarist Joe Pass and bassist Niels Pedersen. Just 16 days later Peterson would record The London Concert with a different trio. This time around he mostly sticks to standards but includes three songs associated with Benny Goodman (including the riff-filled "Benny's Bugle"), features Pass (who contributed his original "Gentle Tears") unaccompanied on "Lover Man" and really romps with his fellow virtuosoes on such numbers as "Ornithology," "Donna Lee" and "Sweet Georgia Brown."

This LP, recorded at the 1975 Montreux Jazz Festival, is a festive jam session that features pianist Oscar Peterson, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, guitarist Joe Pass, Toots Thielemans on harmonica, bassist Niels Pedersen and drummer Louie Bellson. The principles have plenty of solo space on two blues, the ballad "Here's That Rainy Day," and the standard "Poor Butterfly." Since these players are competitive in addition to being complementary, some sparks fly as the musicians challenge each other.

This three-leaf clover met as members of Max Greger Sr. his orchestra in the early 70's. Greger junior previously studied at the Munich Academy of Music and was a fan of Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner. Over the years, he has even played with international jazz greats such as Ack van Rooyen, Benny Bailey and Herb Geller (and wasted his time with schmaltz-delivering Peter Herbolzheimer and Udo Jürgens). The Swiss Charly Antolini studied in his hometown of Zurich and has over the years played with Wolfgang Dauner, Barbara Dennerlein, Art Farmer, Dusko Goykovich, Albert Mangelsdorf, Nils Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Baden Powell and a number of others. Milan Pilar first studied at home in Prague and later in Munich.