Customer Reviews

Encore at the Blue Note

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"At one point, Oscar's biographer Gene Lees interviewed seventy pianists on the subject of jazz piano, and Oscar was among the close winners in the categories of personal favorite and 'best' pianist. Hank Jones has said that 'Oscar Peterson is head and shoulders above any pianist alive today. Oscar is the apex. He's the crowning ruler of all the pianists in the jazz world. No question about it.' André Previn has noted: 'He is the best.' And Oscar was the favorite pianist of the late Bill Evans, whose delicate impressionistic piano work might lead one to place him worlds away from Oscar." ~ Donald Elfman, Liner Notes ~

Let your ears grow accustomed to the finest, liveliest, and jazziest music thru this collection of eight classic jazz pieces courtesy of a world-class jazz icon, Oscar Peterson. Known for his dazzling keyboard artistry, he's been captivating millions of ears and wowing audiences all over the world.

These awesome performances were recorded live at the Blue Note in New York City in March of 1990. How I wish I were there to watch him perform live! Backed by his equally talented long-time collaborators Ray Brown on bass and Herb Ellis on guitar, with special guest Bobby Durham on drums, they present some of their greatest recordings of all-time most remarkably the initial track "Falling In Love With Love," "The More I See You" and "Here's That Rainy Day." Also highlighted in this recording are some of his original compositions, "The Gentle Waltz," "Cool Walk" and a medley of "Goodbye Old Girl" and "He Has Gone."

The beauty of "Here's That Rainy Day" simply blew me away! Wow, it just flows radiantly all throughout and elicited rounds of applause from the audience in the midst of the performance. Another breathtakingly beautiful and well-applauded performance is a dramatic solo piece of "The More I See You," which is a testament of the virtuosity and brilliancy Mr. Peterson projects not only to his live audience but also to his listeners as well. What a fabulous solo performance!

Enjoy this album, it's one of many Oscar Peterson Trio's great recordings. You'll surely love it!

Happy Listening!

Although at times the music sounds rather flat, it is the many little sonic nuances such as the "clinking" of silverware and close-by table conversations that make this recording fun to listen to. At first I was kind of dissapointed with the random fading, but the more I listen, I find the surrounding noises actually add to the enjoyment of this recording. It makes you "feel" like you're sitting in a nightclub listening to the trio.

Oscar is in fine form as usual... amazing furiously-paced tempos throughout.

This is my very favorite Oscar Peterson CD. Although sometimes he lets his astonishing technique run away with itself, for the most part this is jazz piano at its best. Many of Oscar's albums seem almost on automatic pilot, which is still better than anyone else, but on this one he is really cooking. I must have listened to this a hundred times and never get tired of it.

As always another excellent Oscar Peterson album. At the moment these four albums (which can be purchased as a boxed set) are the last recordings available before Peterson had a stroke. So on this 4th album in the series Oscar has his left hand at 100%.

What this means is that you are in for a treat. His biography title is called "The Will To Swing" and on this album Peterson does this brilliantly. My favourite track is the Charlie Parker classic "Billes Bounce", which whilst it is not at the race horse tempo you sometimes get with Peterson just builds and builds and of course swings.

Ray Brown is on Bass and Herb Ellis is on Guitar. This is the original Oscar Peterson Trio. They are augmented by Bobby Durham on drums to make up the quartet. This is very high class Jazz by some of the greatest ever in the history of the music.

Oscar & Trio deliver a spectacular performanc