Oscar Peterson / Trio Plays Richard Rodgers Song Book ( 180g vinyl LP )

Release date: 26-04-2017(Originally released in 1959)

2017 EU reissue 180g vinyl LP- With the introduction of the LP in the mid 50s jazz entrepreneur Norman Grantz presented the jazz world with conceptual albums based on the work of the most famous American songwriters.

This LP by the renowned Oscar Peterson Trio Ray Brown bass Ed Thigpen drums offering fantastic renditions of Richard Rogers songs is one of several albums the pianist made as a tribute to renowned composers stickered & sealed

Tracks:
A1 This Can't Be Love 2:34
A2 It Might As Well Be Spring 3:02
A3 Johnny One Note 1:42
A4 The Surrey With The Fringe On Top 2:34
A5 The Lady Is A Tramp 2:06
A6 Blue Moon 2:45

B1 Manhattan 2:56
B2 Isn't It Romantic? 2:19
B3 Lover 2:03
B4 I Didn't Know What Time It Was 2:39
B5 Bewitched 2:54
B6 My Funny Valentine 2:46
B7 Thou Swell 2:30

ALLABOUTJAZZ.COM

Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson (1925-2007) was just starting what turned out to be terrific career in 1951 when jazz impresario extraordinaire Norman Granz took him into the studio to record Plays Cole Porter (Clef Records, 1952). Granz had a grand plan: To have this then-promising jazz pianist record a number of albums under the Oscar Peterson Plays tag, each an immersion into a separate Great American Songbook tunesmith. It started with Cole Porter and ran through George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Vincent Youman, Harry Warren, Harold Arlen and Jimmy McHugh—ten albums in all, over a three year period. The idea was a marketing ploy that worked to perfection; it worked so well, in fact, that Granz started the same ball rolling in 1959 with another set—nine albums this time—embracing the same theme. This later series was called The Songbooks, released on his Granz' Verve Records label, covering mostly the same songwriters.

Oscar Peterson Plays collects the earlier series of ten albums—on five discs, two albums per—featuring the Oscar Peterson Trio: Peterson on piano, with bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Barney Kessel, with Herb Ellis taking over the guitar chair in the later sessions. This group—along with pianist Ahmad Jamal's trio of the early fifties—defined the piano/guitar/bass line-up.

Peterson, born in 1925, was in his mid-to-late twenties at the time these tracks were laid down. His sound was consistently classy and first rate here, as it was for his entire career. This three year, ten album project certainly brought his profile—at that early stage in the career game—up to the next level. Smart marketing combined with impeccable taste and technique and the best songs out there can do that.

A touchstone for Peterson's style can be found in the artistry of pianist Art Tatum (1909-1956)—the light, sparkling touch, the joyous swing, the uplifting ebullience. The rapid-fire notes, the unabashed elegance. It was an approach/style that was fully formed at the time of these recordings.

The trio is in consistently excellent form here, so picking of a favorite of these jewels will probably depend on personal preference for a favorite among the songwriters involved. Certainly the Cole Porter set will have its adherents—the disc starts with a peak on that most-covered of Great American Songbook tunes, "What Is This Thing Called Love?," that levels off in a high plateau with "Begin The Beguine" and "I've Got You Under My Skin." Others will go for the George Gershwin or the Duke Ellington sets, or any of the others. These featured songwriters are the greatest contributors to greatness of American music, their tunes interpreted by one of the finest pianists of all time.