Jazz Articles about Oscar Peterson

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Oscar Peterson: A Jazz Odyssey

by Kyle Simpler
March 8, 2004

...A Jazz Odyssey Oscar Peterson Richard Palmer (Editor) Continuum Books ISBN 0826458076

Anyone who has achieved a certain degree of fame has probably given some consideration to publishing an autobiography. In many cases, it’s usually best if these works never get beyond the thought process, simply because the books would hold little interest to anyone other than loyal fans. There are, however, exceptions; Oscar Peterson, the legendary jazz pianist, definitely ...

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Oscar Peterson: Pablo's Prodigal Son

by Derek Taylor
December 29, 2003

The Oscar Peterson Trio, with Ray Brown on bass, Herb Ellis on guitar and/or Ed Thigpen on drums represents one of the most prolific and recognizable rhythm sections in jazz. Under the Verve umbrella they cut sessions easily numbering into the double digits backing a voluminous array of swing and bop heavyweights including Lester Young, Ben Webster, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan and a litany of others. They were also a consummate ensemble on their own. It’s natural then ...

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Oscar Peterson Trio: Vancouver, 1958

by AAJ Staff
November 16, 2003

Vancouver, 1958, a sequel to last year's Tenderly, documents a live performance toward the end of the lifespan of the early Peterson/Ellis/Brown trio, displaying the same patient warmth, outrageous swing, calculated calm, and lightning flashes that have always been essential to the Peterson sound.Some say Oscar Peterson is just a (highly capable) mechanic, and those would probably be the same folks who dismiss Art Tatum as a technical prodigy without invention. Whatever. You can look at it that ...

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Oscar Peterson: Dimensions: A Compendium of the Pablo Years

by Norman Weinstein
November 7, 2003

Oscar Peterson's recordings on the Pablo label span the years from the '50s to the '70s and have long needed this type of lavish anthology. Over the course of four discs, you get to hear five tunes by the classic trio matching the peerless pianist with guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown. But the best of that particular band – arguably Peterson's finest – resides largely on the Verve label, so the Pablo years find Peterson interacting with a ...

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Ben Webster: Soulville

by John Ballon
October 27, 2003

I accidentally lucked into the music of Ben Webster while sifting through the “W" section of some dusty used record bin years ago. The cover looked cool, with its classic profile shot of an unsmiling, world-weary Webster featured beneath the boldly printed title, Soulville. I impulsively bought the disc, took it home, and a few days later got around to playing it. Whoa! Had I stumbled onto something BIG? From that record on, I no longer thought of jazz as ...

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Ben Webster: Soulville

by David Rickert
May 11, 2003

A photograph on the inside of Soulville 's CD cover shows Webster with his head tilted back, eyelids drooping and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. It’s a great photo, simply because Webster approaches soloing in much the same way. A relaxed and patient improviser who first made his name with Ellington’s band playing one definitive solo after another, the tenor saxophonist really blossomed once he struck out as a solo artist where he wasn’t boxed in by the confines ...

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Oscar Peterson: An Oscar Peterson Christmas

by Robert Gilbert
December 22, 2002

Like a delicious holiday turkey, An Oscar Peterson Christmas is nothing fancy, but easy to digest and something to look forward to every year. The legendary Canadian pianist works his way through fourteen Christmas standards with a quartet featuring Lorne Lofsky on guitar, Dave Young on bass and Jerry Fuller on drums. Guesting on a couple of tracks each are Dave Samuels on vibraphone and Jack Schantz on flugelhorn.

Arranger Rick Wilkins sweetens a few of the tracks with a ...