Oscar Peterson first heard guitarist Herb Ellis in the spring of 1953. Ellis was playing at a club in Buffalo, N.Y., with the Soft Winds, a trio featuring Ellis, Johnny Frigo doubling on bass and violin, and Lou Carter on piano. Peterson and Ellis met briefly between sets, and the pianist filed away Ellis's name. And it's a good thing he did. That summer, tired of relentless touring, guitarist Barney Kessel, left the Oscar Peterson Trio to take on a growing list of recording commitments in Los Angeles. Before he left, Kessel recommended Ellis. [Photo above of Oscar Peterson with MPS Records' Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer in Germany courtesy of MPS]
Ellis joined Peterson and bassist Ray Brown in Boston in the late summer of '53. Over the next five years, with the rise of the 12-inch LP and surging popularity of at-home listening, the Oscar Peterson Trio became one of the most tireless and in-demand jazz groups in the country. The trio not only toured throughout the year but also recorded as the de-facto house band for Norman Granz's Verve label. Ellis had plenty of endurance and a technique to match Peterson's keyboard bombast, weaving lyrically in and around the pianist's muscular chords. By 1958, Ellis was a jazz superstar in his own right and left the group to accompany Ella Fitzgerald in the studio and on tour. Peterson replaced Ellis with drummer Ed Thigpen.
In the years that followed, Ellis recorded as a leader and as a sideman, mostly in Los Angeles. In 1965, he recorded with Peterson and Brown again on With Respect to Nat. Another four years would pass before Ellis and Peterson would team up again. In November 1969, Ellis was reunited with Peterson, along with bassist Sam Jones and drummer Bobby Durham in Villingen, Germany, at the Black Forest studios of MPS. The result was Hello Herbie. Peterson is strong, precise and absolutely flawless, while Ellis takes brash solos when he's not playing tasty rhythm guitar behind Peterson. [Photo above, from left, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson and Herb Ellis]
The tracks are Naptown Blues, Exactly Like You, Day By Day, Hamp's Blues, Blues for H.G., A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening and Seven Comes Eleven.
The highpoints for me on the album are Wes Montgomery's Naptown Blues and the standard A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening. The former is an explosive swinger that features Ellis doing a Montgomery impression before shifting into his own stylistic approach. Peterson's solo is pure Milt Buckner, unleashing cascades of block chords. The latter song is taken at a walking tempo, giving the listener a chance to hear the articulation of both musicians in comparative slow motion.
The next three MPS studio albums by Peterson were equally magnificent: Tristeza on Piano, recorded in January and February 1970 with Jones and Durham; and Walking the Line and Tracks, both from November 1970 with George Mraz on bass and Ray Price on drums.
Oscar Peterson died in 2007; Herb Ellis died in 2010.
JazzWax tracks: Here's A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening from Hello Herbie...
Here's Triste from Tristeza on Piano...
Here's Once Upon a Summertime from Walking the Line...
And here's Oscar Peterson's solo on Give Me the Simple Life from the remastered Tracks...
Give Me the Simple Life
Ellis joined Peterson and bassist Ray Brown in Boston in the late summer of '53. Over the next five years, with the rise of the 12-inch LP and surging popularity of at-home listening, the Oscar Peterson Trio became one of the most tireless and in-demand jazz groups in the country. The trio not only toured throughout the year but also recorded as the de-facto house band for Norman Granz's Verve label. Ellis had plenty of endurance and a technique to match Peterson's keyboard bombast, weaving lyrically in and around the pianist's muscular chords. By 1958, Ellis was a jazz superstar in his own right and left the group to accompany Ella Fitzgerald in the studio and on tour. Peterson replaced Ellis with drummer Ed Thigpen.
In the years that followed, Ellis recorded as a leader and as a sideman, mostly in Los Angeles. In 1965, he recorded with Peterson and Brown again on With Respect to Nat. Another four years would pass before Ellis and Peterson would team up again. In November 1969, Ellis was reunited with Peterson, along with bassist Sam Jones and drummer Bobby Durham in Villingen, Germany, at the Black Forest studios of MPS. The result was Hello Herbie. Peterson is strong, precise and absolutely flawless, while Ellis takes brash solos when he's not playing tasty rhythm guitar behind Peterson. [Photo above, from left, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson and Herb Ellis]
The tracks are Naptown Blues, Exactly Like You, Day By Day, Hamp's Blues, Blues for H.G., A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening and Seven Comes Eleven.
The highpoints for me on the album are Wes Montgomery's Naptown Blues and the standard A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening. The former is an explosive swinger that features Ellis doing a Montgomery impression before shifting into his own stylistic approach. Peterson's solo is pure Milt Buckner, unleashing cascades of block chords. The latter song is taken at a walking tempo, giving the listener a chance to hear the articulation of both musicians in comparative slow motion.
The next three MPS studio albums by Peterson were equally magnificent: Tristeza on Piano, recorded in January and February 1970 with Jones and Durham; and Walking the Line and Tracks, both from November 1970 with George Mraz on bass and Ray Price on drums.
Oscar Peterson died in 2007; Herb Ellis died in 2010.
JazzWax tracks: Here's A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening from Hello Herbie...
Here's Triste from Tristeza on Piano...
Here's Once Upon a Summertime from Walking the Line...
And here's Oscar Peterson's solo on Give Me the Simple Life from the remastered Tracks...
Give Me the Simple Life
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This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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