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Oscar Peterson's Top Ten Albums · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

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This is Jed Disler, and welcome to The Piano
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the rest of the year. The great jazz pianist
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Oscar Peterson, who lived from 1925 until 2007,
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would have turned 100 years old in August of
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2025. And there have been all kinds of celebrations
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of this milestone throughout the jazz world.
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There have been concerts and recordings and all
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kinds of events. When Oscar Peterson was a teenager,
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He confessed to his father that he wanted to
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drop out of high school to become a jazz pianist.
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At first, his father said no, but if Oscar intended
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to drop out in order to become the world's greatest
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jazz pianist, then that was a whole different
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story, and Oscar had his father's blessing if
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that was going to be the case. And many do think,
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and justifiably so, that Oscar Peterson was the
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greatest living jazz pianist of his time. Anyway,
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at a very young age, Oscar Peterson worked quite
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hard and very systematically to overcome specific
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hassles of technique, meaning that he would acquire
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a total and unambiguously ambidextrous technique,
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where both hands could play rapid unison runs
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at the fastest tempos with maximum clarity and
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the most centered rhythm. Although Oscar Peterson
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was profoundly influenced by the virtuosity and
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extraordinary harmonic imagination of Art Tatum,
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Peterson was more of a linear player and much
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more of an ensemble player as well. And as brilliant
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a soloist as he was, he also furnished inventive
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and well -planned support behind soloists, which
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is one reason why his producer and manager, Norman
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Granz, used him so often as a sideband for countless
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recordings. to say nothing about the prolific
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output in the 1950s when Oscar Peterson formed
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a trio with... bassist Ray Brown and guitarist
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Herb Ellis. Herb Ellis replaced Barney Kessel.
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And this trio recorded prolifically, setting
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high standards in terms of ensemble sophistication
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and swinging momentum and control of dynamics.
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And such standards would continue when Oscar
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decided to use drums, replacing a guitarist,
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although he sometimes would go back to the piano,
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guitar, and bass format. In 1993, Oscar Peterson
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suffered a stroke that affected mobility in his
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left hand, but he recovered sufficiently enough
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to return to performing with a quartet where
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a guitarist helped fill out Oscar's left hand
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function. Oscar Peterson gave his last performance
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in 2006, and he passed away in December of 2007
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at the age of 82. There are a handful of jazz
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pianists whom you can instantly identify after
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just hearing a couple of bars of music. And I
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think Oscar Peterson certainly is one of these,
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not just because of the clean technique and sheer
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speed of his lines and his left hand, but also
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because of the precision of his articulation
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and, as I said before, his centered rhythm. Now,
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of course, he did rush for effect, which you
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can hear in a lot of these recordings where the
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momentum is just... building and the excitement
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is building and the tempos can run away with
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them. But at the same time, you also get some
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of the most sensitive ballad playing from any
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jazz pianist, where Oscar Peterson's touch and
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his timing and his own harmonic imagination all
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come to the forefront. So in talking about Oscar
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Peterson's recorded legacy, I've decided to pick
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10 releases, that represent different stages
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of his career when he was at the top of his form.
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And I think these will give a very well -rounded
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portrait of Peterson's artistry. The first release
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I'm going to select is a 1951 quartet date with
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Oscar Peterson, guitarist Barney Kessel, Ray
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Brown on bass, and Alvin Stoller on drums. And
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this originally appeared as a 12 -inch LP with
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four tracks, the Astaire Blues, Body and Soul,
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Stompin' at the Savoy, and Oh Lady Be Good. And
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I think that this release represents the 25 -year
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-old Oscar Peterson's exuberance and confidence
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and infectious feeling for the blues. And also,
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it showcases his use of repeating riffs to help
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stabilize the rhythm section or to create building
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momentum. And this is something he did a lot
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in his earlier days. The second release I want
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to talk about. comes from 1957. It's an album
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that was originally released as the Oscar Peterson
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Trio live at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam,
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but actually these recordings came from a concert
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at the Chicago Civic Opera House. I feel that
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this recording represents a high point of the
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trio with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis. You get...
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up -tempo killers like Budo, which does get faster
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and faster as it unfolds. But my god, is it exciting.
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And you have a lot of intricate ensemble arrangements
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and all kinds of subtle interplay between the
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musicians. And it's just an incredibly high standard
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of ensemble playing and with very exciting solos
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from everybody. For my third Oscar Peterson album
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choice, at first, I thought of representing the
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trio with Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen through
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their complete series of live 1961 recordings
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made at Chicago's London House. But after thinking
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about it, I feel that this particular trio's
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synergy comes together with great flair and creativity
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on a disc that they made. reinterpreting songs
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from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story. And
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the results are totally fresh, and they still
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sound that way. And for my fourth album, I do
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want to pick another album by that same trio
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with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen, because to my
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mind, it represents Oscar Peterson's most memorable
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and gratifying showcase as a composer. The pieces
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that make up Oscar Peterson's Canadiana Suite
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were recorded in 1964. And the titles depict
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places in Canada going from east to west. Thinking,
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if you think of a railway journey. And some of
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these pieces remained in Oscar's active repertoire.
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Place Saint -Henri and Hogtown Blues and March
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Past. It's a wonderful suite and the playing
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is absolutely superb. Between the late 1960s
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and early 1970s, Oscar Peterson recorded extensively
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with the German producer Hans -Georg Brunner
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Scher in his studio in the Black Forest. And
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these appeared on the MPS label, first as imports,
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and then later they became available in the United
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States. And the close -up and super clear engineering
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captures the intimacy and range of Oscar Peterson's
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sonority in a unique way. There are two albums
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from the series that I think are quite special,
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and these are my fifth and sixth choices for
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my ten representative Oscar Peterson albums.
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One was what happened to be his very first solo
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piano album, which was titled My Favorite Instrument.
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It's quite a masterpiece, and it features wonderful
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tracks like Perdido, Who Can I Turn To?, Someone
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to Watch Over Me, and a very moving and emotionally
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communicative ballad, the Rodgers and Hart song
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Little Girl Blue, which I think is just gorgeous
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and quite moving. Among the trio albums from
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these German sessions, I'm quite partial to a
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1970 session that was released under the name
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Walking the Line. And it features a trio with
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George Mraz on bass and the drummer Ray Price.
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Oscar Peterson is at the absolute pinnacle of
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his form on this recording. Even by his high
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standards, the playing is extraordinary and his
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combination of virtuosity and inspiration just...
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beggar's belief. Just listen to his treatment
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of Michel Legrand's song, The Windmills of Your
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Mind, which he takes at a super fast tempo, yet
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it never derails, it never loses control. And
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it's a very elaborate arrangement, and there
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are restless modulations from one key to the
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next. And clearly nothing phases Oscar Peterson,
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but his ballad playing on this disc is extraordinary
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too. The unaccompanied introduction that he does
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for I Didn't Know What Time It Was is just one
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of the most beautiful things that he ever did.
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When Norman Granz got back into the recording
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business in 1972, after a hiatus for about 10
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or more years, he formed a label called Pablo
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Records, named after... his favorite artist,
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Picasso, of course. And he brought Oscar Peterson
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along with him for a wide variety of recording
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projects that took place from 1972 up through
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the late 1980s. My seventh and eighth and ninth
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choices for Oscar Peterson albums all come from
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the Pablo catalog, and maybe these choices will
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surprise you, or maybe they won't. Between 1974
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and 1975, Oscar Peterson recorded five albums
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of duets with trumpet players, each album with
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a different player. And the trumpeters were Clark
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Terry, Harry Edison, Roy Eldridge, John Faddis,
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and Dizzy Gillespie. In my opinion, the Dizzy
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Gillespie collaboration is the most adventurous
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and spontaneous and rewarding of these five albums.
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And you hear both Oscar and Dizzy spurring each
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other on and taking chances and totally being
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in the moment. And even at one point, Dizzy starts
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singing spontaneously. It's almost as if one
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is... eavesdropping on these two musicians just
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playing for themselves and trying to outdo one
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another and just having a lot of fun. Also, it's
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worth saying that Dizzy Gillespie was one of
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the first American jazz musicians who took notice
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of Oscar Peterson, one the pianist had yet to
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play outside of his native Canada. This was in
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the late 1940s. Oscar Peterson was present on
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numerous Norman Grand's productions recorded
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live during the 1975 and 1977 Montreux Jazz Festivals.
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And the one release from this series that I want
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to put on this list, my eighth choice of my ten
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Oscar Peterson albums, is a little unusual. It's
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a disc called Oscar Peterson and the Bassists,
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where both Ray Brown and Niels Henning Orsted
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Peterson alternate back and forth playing their
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respective basses, and sometimes they play together
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with Oscar. And not only is it interesting to
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compare and contrast these two amazing bassists
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and their very different styles of soloing and
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accompanying, but... Oscar Peterson himself is
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on quite inspired form. And of all the up -tempo
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versions he recorded in the 70s of Sweet Georgia
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Brown during his Pablo years, I think this one
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might be the best, especially at the moment when
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Oscar breaks out into some wild, really over
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-the -top stride piano playing. And there is
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a video. of this album. And when you see Oscar
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going into stride, you see the two bassists looking
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at each other and smiling and thinking, oh my
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God, what is Oscar doing now? It's just really
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wonderful. So you can get this album on video
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as well as on audio only, of course. For the
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ninth release on my Oscar Peterson list, this
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is also from the Pablo catalog. It's an unusual
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yet quite compelling and very effective example
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of Oscar Peterson as an ensemble player. And
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this is the first, and I think the best, of several
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recorded duo piano encounters between Oscar Peterson
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and Count Basie. And you have Ray Brown on bass,
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Louis Belson on drums, and Freddie Green on guitar,
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who was Count Basie's long -standing rhythm section
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mate. And what's so interesting is that Basie
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is basically a minimalist, while Oscar Peterson,
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of course, is a maximalist. Yet Peterson strikes
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a perfect balance between holding back when supporting
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Basie's aphoristic phrases. and then coming back
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with a few virtuoso flourishes. But also, Basie
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himself rises to the occasion with some brilliant
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hints of the kind of stride piano that he used
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to do when he was much younger. And as different
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as Oscar Peterson and Count Basie are pianistically,
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they share a strong rhythmic core, and they generate
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palpable tension as much through implication
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as from what they play. And I think that their
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interaction is really quite special and unique,
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and it just works wonderfully well. So for my
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10th and last Oscar Peterson album choice, for
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the best in late period Oscar Peterson, The classical
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tell -arc label began to expand into jazz when
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they recorded Oscar Peterson over three nights
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in March 1990 at New York's Blue Note Club, preserving
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an engagement where his original trio with Ray
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Brown and Herb Ellis reunited, adding drummer
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Bobby Durham to the mix. And what I love... about
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these live recordings besides their exceptional
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sonic quality is that At this point in their
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careers, none of these musicians had anything
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to prove. So instead of the ambitious and tightly
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knit arrangements from their peak 1950s years
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when the trio was playing all the time, here
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the music making is more informal and playful,
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yet it's totally informed by great authority
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and years of experience and being familiar with
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one another on the bandstand. And having seen
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Oscar Peterson in person at the Blue Note during
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this period, I can attest firsthand that Oscar
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was having as much fun playing as the audience
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members were listening to him. It was really
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all about the music, and definitely the audience
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was clearly enjoying it. up until they started
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passing out the checks. And then when you saw
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that hefty bill and that ridiculously expensive
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cover charge, uh -oh, that was a reality check
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there. But, you know, look, this was the jazz
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piano equivalent of... getting Vladimir Horowitz
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tickets, you just had to accept that you would
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pay through the nose. But fortunately, these
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Telarc CDs were a lot cheaper than going to the
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Blue Note, although maybe they're not so much
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cheaper now because they are out of print in
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their physical format and second -hand dealers
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are charging a lot of money. Anyway, these 10
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releases, I think, offer a good representation
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of Oscar Peterson's remarkable career journey,
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as well as the ripening of his own artistry and
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the subtle stylistic evolution that one hears
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from year to year and from decade to decade in
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this remarkable and really consistent body of
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work. This is Jed Disler. and you've been listening
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to The Piano Maven, your friendly podcast guide
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to piano recordings. And I've posted links to
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many of these Oscar Peterson releases in the
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episode description, so you can definitely check
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them out. And if you have never heard Oscar Peterson
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before, I envy you hearing him for the first
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time. I'll never forget when I heard him for
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the first time. It was actually... on a film
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soundtrack. It was actually a soundtrack to an
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abstract cartoon. And I remember just how joyous
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and swinging and virtuosic and fun and exuberant
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the piano playing was. And when I found out that
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the name of the pianist was Oscar Peterson, that
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made me curious. And I've been a big fan since.
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Take care of yourself, and I look forward to
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being with you for the next episode of The Piano
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Maven.