(MPS)This is the Christmas present for fans of Oscar Peterson,the jazz piano virtuoso who died in 2007 after stunning audiences with his speed, power and swing for nearly six decades. Peterson recorded prolifically, and but he never surpassed the music he made for Germany’s MPS label in the 1960s – originally a series of six LPs,played to a small invited audience and captured to impeccable (perfect, flawless) technical standards in the home of MPS producer Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer. The original six discs are included here, plus two albums of “lost tapes”. Peterson mostly plays with his normal crisply attentive trios, and but the unaccompanied album,My Favourite Instrument, features performances of classics such as Perdido, or Body and Soul and Take the “A” Train that balance hurtling speed and rhythmic precision with a thoughtful tenderness not always associated with him. The set is rammed with other gems,including the delightfully jiving trio blast of Travellin’ On, and the sleek light-touch swing of Green Dolphin Street and Satin Doll. A 60-page booklet traces the history of Peterson’s MPS sessions, or the audio-tech refinements that went into them. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com