Customer Reviews

We Get Requests

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of my most favourite albums. The liner notes, both the original unacredited notes but presumbly by producer Jim Davis, and Phil Bailey's reissue notes, are much what you would expect on an album from one of jazz's greatest trios. Pure extascy. Both speak of Peterson's incredible virtuosity, and the seamlessness of the trio. Both compliments are certainly deserved, but the excesive laudation does get in the way of appreciatinq a truly fantastic recording. That's not to say that the music is not well above par. It certainly is. They even brinq a new face to the Girl From Ipanema. The solo voices are also very well developed. In each tune the soloist actually has something to say - whether it be Peterson, Brown or Thigpen - and the remaining players don't hold him back or try to dominate. Its not an understatement to describe "We Get Requests" as exhibiting the famed synchronicity of the Oscar Peterson Trio's live performances.

pk.

Oscar Peterson isn't called the swinger for nothing, as this classic album demonstrates. Covering current pop hits of the day like "The Days Of Wine And Roses", "People", and especially their version of "Corcovado" which opens the album, the trio casts them in a new light with uniquely different arrangements that showcase their tight rhythmic playing. Great liner notes in the booklet and an excellent 20-bit remaster make this album seem new again. A great album and one of the best in the Verve catalog, period.

This 1964 session tends toward the "commercial" Oscar Peterson. Ten tunes, only one clocking in at over 5 minutes (5:11), with Oscar playing with restraint, finesse and polish, backed by his best rhythm section. The "concept" was to have the great pianist perform tunes not normally in his repertory but frequently requested by fans. At the same time, none of the last three tunes is familiar, though the closer features full-blown hyper-virtuosic Oscar at full speed.

The audio on the 1997 CD reissue is as good as it gets. Ray Brown's bass retains all of its natural, personal character; Thigpen's drums are crisp and present; Oscar's piano is bright and perfectly mixed--and it's a spacious sound that you would never hear on a Van Gelder recording.

If you really want to hear Oscar smokin' on every tune, playing with his "serious" game face on and from this same period, go to the recordings from the "Exclusively for My Friends" series, made at the Black Forest estate of Hans Brunner Schwer for his German MPS label (now out on Verve). Start with "The Lost Tapes" (Vol. 1) or "In a Mellotone" (Vol. V), but fasten your seat belt first. No mellow Oscar on this one--just a volcanic force unleashed. If that sounds like too much to start with, get your feet wet with "We Get Requests."

While this is a good album from my favorite OP trio - with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen - there is less than 40 minutes of music, and there really are no memorable tunes. It certainly does not compare favorably with Night Train, Jazz Soul/Affinity, Peterson Plays Basie, and several other Oscar Peterson Trio CD's. I would buy this, but not until adding some of the others to an Oscar Peterson collection.

I purchased this CD out of curiosity to the sound of a K2HD recording. I was very pleasantly suprised to the clarity of each instrument that I can hear in every song. The sound was so good that I enjoyed every composition. If you have good sound system, it definitely is worth spending for good quality CD.

I was sad to read that Mr. Thigpen passed away in January 2010. So my tribute to this now departed trio is my attempt at reviewing what has to be one of the best recorded jazz albums ever made.

If you are reading this, I am going to assume that you are already familiar with the Oscar Peterson Trio. As with every album this Trio recorded, you get a little bit of everything. There is electricity, speed, calmness and joy. Where this album surpasses the others is in the quality of the recorded tracks. Whether you have an audiophile quality sound system or computer speakers, you will be able to hear the differences I am attempting to explain. Ray's bass comes out perfectly from one speaker and the quality is so excellent you can even hear him scatting while he is playing (check out the intro of You Look Good to Me). Ed's playing issues as perfectly from the opposite speaker. And I was amazed to hear all the little things that Ed does while playing as opposed to just keeping the beat. The recording is so clean that you can actually focus your ears to the bass or drum lines or just let Oscar's playing take you away.

If you could care less about hearing the playing of each memeber, have no fear the selection of songs has to be one of the best groupings the Trio every put down on tape. If you like the samba sound, listen to the Girl from Ipanema; 70's music more to your liking, the Trio covers People; prefer a good ballad, Time and Again will fill that niche and if you just want straight up jazz, I would challenge you to find a better example than Goodbye J.D.

For those that do have an audophile quality system with a turntable, get the re-released vinyl. It is dynamic.

Why can't the record companies produce music like this any more? I sure miss those guys.

This has got to be my favorite Oscar Peterson CD! The trio (Ray Brown, Ed Thigpen and Oscar) is at the height of their musical prowess and every track is a gem. There's been so much written about Oscar that I have nothing to add but he really knows how to make Jazz improvisation make sense. There isn't the least bit of self-indulgence or pretense on this CD, every track has just the number of choruses to make their musical point(s) and then they stop. So even if you're not a big fan of jazz you're going to enjoy this CD. I especially enjoy Track 6 - "You Look Good to Me", Ray Brown's bass solo at the start is wonderful and Oscar builds the energy as the tune progresses. I have probably listened to this CD a couple of hundred times and never grow tired of it.

I've been getting more and more into jazz over the past few months, and so I try to find recordings that have a classic jazz sound, but that also go a little bit out. "We Get Requests" doesn't stray very far from the classic jazz sound, I think, but the music on this album is fresh and exciting. Through a lot of online trading and an occasional purchase myself, I've amassed a jazz CD collection of over 200 CDs and this is easily one of my favorites.

We played this outside at our parties all last summer and it is fantastic cocktail/lounge jazz. GREAT STUFF - also sounds great in the mornings and while swimming or hanging poolside. Get it!

While the music and performances on the disc are truly classic (easy 5 stars), the recording leaves a lot to be desired (2-3 stars). While the drums and bass actually "sound" pretty good, the drums are panned hard left and the bass hard right, placing the sound directly on top of the speakers and ruining the soundstage. Further, the piano sounds very stange (kind of a phased-metallic overtone) on many of the songs.

While the disc overall is still extremely enjoyable, with reasonable recording practices, it could have made my "hall of fame".