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The Oscar Peterson Trio – We Get Requests (1964/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 40:37 minutes | 871 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve Reissues

This 1964 studio session features the Peterson trio with bassist Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen, a group that had been together for five years by then and performed like a well-oiled machine. The repertoire is mostly pop songs of the day, including bossa nova tunes and film themes, and the treatments are fairly brief, with emphasis placed squarely on the melodies. Even in their lightest moments, though, the group demonstrates some of the qualities that made it among the most influential piano trios in jazz, a group that could generate tremendous rhythmic energy and a sense of developing musical detail. For all his legendary force, Peterson possesses a subtle rhythmic sense, and here he infuses even ‘People’ with an undercurrent of swing. This is undemanding, tuneful music best suited for casual listening, but it still sparkles with the trio’s customary élan.

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The Oscar Peterson Trio – Walking the Line (1971/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 41:29 minutes | 784 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MPS

This fine Oscar Peterson date from 1970 features a trio rounded out by bassist George Mraz and drummer Ray Price. Peterson has always excelled in the trio format, and „Walking the Line“ is no exception.
As fans know, Peterson is a dazzling technician, turning out a blinding flurry of notes one minute (‘Just Friends’), then coming back the next with a ballad exquisite enough to break your heart (‘Once Upon a Summertime’). Fluent in blues, hard bop, swing, and post-bop, Peterson’s approach can range from dramatic to extremely delicate.

All these facets are on display on „Walking the Line“ (bolstered by the sensitive interplay of Price and Mraz), making this one of the best dates of Peterson’s late-’60s/early-’70s period. Remastered sound makes it that much more enjoyable…

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The Oscar Peterson Trio – Tristeza On Piano (1970/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 44:42 minutes | 822 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MPS

At the beginning of this set Oscar Peterson so overwhelms the normally gentle ‘Tristeza’ that it almost becomes a parody. Fortunately the remainder of the bossa nova-flavored CD reissue is more tasteful and, even if Peterson is overly hyper in spots, he is able to bring out the beauty of such songs as George Gershwin’s ‘Porgy,’ Antonio Carlos Jobim’s ‘Trieste’ and ‘Watch What Happens’ in addition to stomping through the straightahead ‘You Stepped out of a Dream.’ (Scott Yanow, AMG)

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