Customer Reviews

Night Rider

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The attraction between the opposites. The fastest jazz piano player meets the slowest one, and the chemistry among them is absolutly amazing! If you want to enjoy the best jazz, the essence of espontaneity and, at the same time, having an approach to two very different styles of piano playing, both marvelous, get this record. A real swingin' pleasure.

Been listening to jazz for over fifty years now and I played jazz piano professionally for nine of those years. The 9:20 Special and It's A Wonderful World tracks are two examples of some of the best jazz trio (quartet) work I've ever heard -- with outstanding back up from Heard and Bellson. They must have been feeling really good that day -- it's a magical performance.

the cd, carries itself very well. The songs are smooth and at the very same time grooving.

These two are brilliant.. No surprise here. What sets this project apart is John Heard on bass. His contribution has caused me to listen to this CD a lot.. I don't believe the bass is overbearing at all, however it is up in the mix enough where you can hear the little things he does. Very, very nice. Highly recommended. So You Want to be a Soundman: Basic Sound Reinforcement for the Interested Novice

The Pablo label was a jazz paradise -- so many great records off the beaten track, and so many of them with a great, laid-back, "We're just hanging out and playing music" feeling. The performers were often aligned with Norman Granz, who had earlier founded and then sold off the great Verve label -- Granz produced Night Rider among many other classics on Pablo. This recording's team-up of two of the all-time piano greats, Count Basie and Oscar Peterson, makes it in my view one of the greatest albums Pablo ever released. It's one of my all-time favorites.

It starts out the title track, a wonderful bass-driven, 12-minute marathon that I sometimes think of as the "Inna Gadda Da Vida" of jazz. "Memories Of You" is an amazing combination of Count Basie on painfully soulful organ chords combined with Peterson's delicate piano taking the top line. "Blues for Pamela" reverses the electric/acoustic division of labor, with Peterson on Fender Rhodes and Basie on piano.

I like all the tracks on this record, but these three are really some of my jazz favorites. This album is highly recommended!

What a disappointment! The album, which should SWING, does not. The first track with the over emphasized bass sets the scene. I am very upset as this should have been something really special. Imagine ...... Count Basie AND Oscar Peterson!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow!!!!!!!!!! And one gets this rather dull album!!!