Oscar Peterson ranks as one of the greatest jazz pianists of the post-war era

Oscar Peterson ranks as one of the greatest jazz pianists of the post-war era, with a technique and style that was unique and highly distinctive, so it a pleasure to be able to make available these excellent ”live” recordings from performances during his heyday in the mid-50s. Both CDs, although the performances are three years apart, feature his classic Trio line-up of piano, bass and guitar, with Ray Brown on bass in both cases, with Barney Kessel playing guitar on the Chicago dates and Herb Ellis on the Ontario festival recordings. It is highly entertaining stuff, with Peterson in full creative flow, and the trio working in uninhibited fashion. Duke Ellington called Peterson ”The maharajah of the keyboard” and Herbie Hancock, who cited him as a major influence, said ”he redefined swing for modern jazz pianists ….and mastered the balance between technique, hard blues, grooving and tenderness”. These performances admirably illustrate that. As a bonus, the Chicago performances from the same concerts by The Buddy de Franco Quartet, led by the great clarinettist, are included on CD 1.

Track Listing

• Introduction (April 24th 1953)
• Heat Wave
• The Man I Love
• Mood
• Introduction
• Somebody Loves Me
• The Things We Did Last Summer
• Cairo
• Introduction (May 1st 1953)
• Anything Goes
• The Continental
• Street Of Dreams
• Easy Livin”
• 52nd Street Theme
• Love You Madly
• Nuages
• How High The Moon
• The Gypsy In My Soul
• Noreen”s Nocturne
• Swinging On A Star
• Flamingo
• How About You”
• Falling In Love With Love

Additional Details

Label: Acrobat

Genre: Jazz

Language: English

Run Time: 140 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 02/11/14

UPC: 824046310325