This album features one of the jazz world's foremost piano virtuosos interpreting the music of the jazz world's greatest composer and bandleader. The recordings--all previously released--are taken from Peterson's Pablo albums of the 1970s and '80s. (An earlier reissue, Oscar Peterson Plays the Duke Ellington Songbook, draws from two Verve albums recorded in the '50s.) The challenge of doing justice to Duke seems to bring out the best in Oscar. He picks up steam like a locomotive on "Main Stem" (with Sam Jones and Louis Hayes) and catches lightning in a bottle on "Cotton Tail" (with Joe Pass, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, and Martin Drew). Peterson's Tatumesque brilliance as a solo pianist is revealed on the rarely heard "Lady of the Lavender Mist" and "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)," while his blues-leanings are in full show on "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" (with Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis). Finally, Oscar takes a ride on the "'A' Train" next the Maestro himself. --Rick Mitchell
Oscar Peterson Plays Duke Ellington,Oscar Peterson,Pablo,Bop,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop,Swing
Jazz Music:
- Parade
- Paris Jazz Concert Pt.2 [Import]
- Perez Prado [Import] [Original recording remastered]
- Romance Collection 2
- Shades Beyond
- Sonny, Vol. 2
- Soul Serenade
- Soulful
- Space Rapture [Import]
- Sweet Like Us
Jazz Music
Eighteenth- Century Music For Two Keyboard Instruments
Music: Peace: Pure Classical Calm
At Last [Original recording remastered] [Import]
Godspell (2001 National Touring Cast) [Cast Recording]
George Crumb: Orchestral Music
Jazz Music: "Live" On Tour in Europe [Live] [Import]
A Smile Like Yours: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack