Complete Quartets & Quintets [Box set]

Lionel Hampton, Oscar Peterson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 22, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1999
• Number of Discs: 5
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00000JBG6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,000 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This five-CD set might begin with sultry, quavering vibraphone and delicately struck piano notes, but the temperature stays low for only the briefest of time. For the rest of the set, the temperature is high and the groove is on. Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton and pianist Oscar Peterson joined arms in the studio fewer than 10 times between 1953 and 1954 to cut the 15 or so records that comprise this set. They were an in-studio band exclusively, never unleashing their alchemy on audiences, perhaps because Hampton didn't need to--at least in a material sense. From historical and aesthetic points of view, it's a shame Peterson and Hampton didn't take this unit to the stage. Buddy Rich, who drums on all the sessions, is monstrous, playing wistfully along on "These Foolish Nights" and then blazing through "Flying Home," emphasizing how potent a vibes-fronted band could be in the postbop days of the early 1950s. These years were also the historical launching point for the most successful band ever to feature vibes and piano, the Modern Jazz Quartet. And maybe Hamp was looking to blast off, too, asserting himself in powerhouse swing sessions as the MJQ refined themselves into a restrained ensemble that made sense equally to classical and jazz fans--engaging a genuine dialogue over the differing paths this instrumental setup could take. In any event, Hamp blasted off, and OP shows himself primed for the speed and power. There are numerous spots across these tracks where the band is cruising so fast and playing so hard that you can hear both Peterson and Hampton grunting, not as Keith Jarrett is wont to do, but as weightlifters do. Certainly Ray Brown's ever-present bass is elemental to the force, but Rich's drumming is so intense and unyielding that the band is almost destined to play up to his force field. Given all that, there really isn't much here that will strike most listeners as visionary or revolutionary. Things cook fervently, as if the band is hell-bent on pressing core swing elements home in an era when the music's popularity was waning. --Andrew Bartlett

Product Description

LIONEL HAMPTON The Complete Quartets And Quintets With Oscar Peterson On Verve (1999 US 50-track FIVE CD set pulling together the stupendous sessions of 1953 & 1954 with most tracks appearing on CD for the first time and two previously unissued performances. Running for six hours this sumptuous collection also includes a fifty page illustrated booklet reproductions of the original album artwork and a fold out full colour poster all housed in a riveted sackcloth spined booklet pack in a great packing case style outer slipcase!)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Outstanding Small Group Swing Sessions from Verve, July 4, 2000

By 

William Faust (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Quartets & Quintets (Audio CD)

Thank God for Norman Granz - the undervalued genius who produced these sessions and founded Verve! I say that just about any time I pop in one of my 1950's small group swing CD's from the Verve vaults. And this collection is no exception. In fact it might represent a pinnacle of sorts where Granz was able to bring together some of the finest swing musicians of the period and let them just wail. Recorded in 1953 and 1954, this 5-CD set is ripe with standards and some blues, most of which are up tempo and driven hard behind the rhythm section of Ray Brown on bass, Herb Ellis on guitar and Buddy Rich on drums. The interplay between Peterson on piano and Hampton on vibes makes these recordings come to life and a bit of Buddy De Franco on clarinet is icing on the cake. There's a single CD compilation if you're not certain that a vibes and piano lead session is for you but this is one box set worth owning and listening to again and again.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS IS JAZZ!, September 28, 2005

By 

Sébastien Melmoth (Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Complete Quartets & Quintets (Audio CD)

Hamp and O.P. swing like crazy on these most excellent tracks. Bonus is Buddy DeFranco on clarinet: damn! he's good!!

All these guys work together so well; the standards are great; the recorded sound is great: this is jazz! Totally worth the price.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Born Too Late, January 27, 2009

By 

Uncle Mud (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Quartets & Quintets (Audio CD)

I am 44 years old so most of this was recorded before I was born. I am discovering this whole new world of jazz. My music taste are all over the place but I find myself coming back to Hamp & Oscar. I put this in my CD player at work and have not changed CD's for nearly two weeks. For those of you new to these men this is a great introduction. For those of you who have been fans for a long time thank you for the reviews and leading me to this great music.

Do yourself a favor and buy this set.