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Oscar Peterson 100 birthday celebration at Birdland
by Mark Edelman
Makoto Ozone, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton Birdland Oscar Peterson 100th birthday New York, NY August 15, 2025 The “Maharajah of the Keyboard" as Duke Ellington dubbed Oscar Peterson--or, to his friends, simply O.P.--would have turned one hundred in August, reason enough to remember the consummate Canadian pianist at that hallowed house of jazz, Birdland in New York City. In the nimble hands of Peterson protege Makoto Ozone, bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton, ...
Continue ReadingVerve's Bossa Nova U.S.A.
by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
Paul Desmond: Samba with Some Barbecue Originally titled “Struttin' with Some Barbecue" in 1941, this Satchmo tune lost its Dixie beat and got a bossa groove in the hands of the infallible Don Sebesky. Brazilian drummer Airto Moreira, then a newcomer in the New York jazz scene, provides a fiery propulsion to Paul Desmond's lyrical approach and “dry martini" alto sound. Different from the sad results of pseudo-bossa albums by Gene Ammons, Sonny Rollins, and so many others, this is ...
Continue ReadingOscar Peterson: City Lights: The Oscar Peterson Quartet – Live in Munich, 1994
by Mike Jurkovic
The first big challenge presented by the latest grand release from the Oscar Peterson archives, City Lights: The Oscar Peterson Quartet--Live in Munich, 1994 is how not to spontaneously burst into dance, either with yourself or some total stranger who happens to be within five miles of earshot of the ecstatic opener, “There Will Never Be Another You." The second challenge is not to interrupt the listening experience of others with wild, joyful whoops, hollers, and well-intentioned hyperbole.
Continue ReadingNew Oscar Peterson And Charlie Parker Recordings And More
by Bob Osborne
Newly discovered recordings from Oscar Peterson and Charlie Parker kick off a show packed with new releases. We close the program with a track from a new box set celebrating the work of bassist Scott LaFaro. Playlist Show Intro 00:00 Oscar Peterson Quartet “Kelly's Blues" from City Lights The Oscar Peterson Quartet Live In Munich 1994 (Mack Avenue) 00:30 Charlie Parker “I Found A New Baby" from Bird in Kansas City (Verve) 09:14 Carn Davidson 9 “Wonderment (For ...
Continue ReadingOscar Peterson: Con Alma
by Chris May
To borrow Duke Ellington's description of Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson was born poor, died rich and never hurt anyone along the way. He also brought joy to untold numbers of people. But, truth to tell, his style was the twentieth-century equivalent of modern day AI-produced generative music. Sit Peterson down at a piano, progamme him (as in give him a tune to play), and press Go: a torrent of technique poured out. Trouble is, Peterson's pianism was ...
Continue ReadingThe Oscar Peterson Trio: Con Alma: The Oscar Peterson Trio Live in Lugano, 1964
by Mike Jurkovic
Was there ever a more generous player than Oscar Peterson? A man who, by simply doing the thing he most loved and thrilled to do, which was make people feel better way down deep in their bones, sat at his piano and made the world grateful? Rekindled that spark--of imagination, of potential, of better--just by running his hands along the eighty-eights and instigating his soul mates, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen to do the same. That ...
Continue ReadingOscar Peterson Trio with Herb Ellis and Ray Brown: Vancouver 1958
by Pierre Giroux
This iteration of the Oscar Peterson Trio, with guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown, had been together for five years at the time of this recording, but it was reaching its expiration date. Following appearances at The Vancouver Jazz Festival on August 4 and 8, 1958, there was only one further instance of the trio recording together that year, and that was for KABC-TV Stars of Jazz on August 18,1958 after which Herb Ellis left the band. The principals ...
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