Genre: Jazz
Oscar Peterson (1925-2007) from Montreal, Quebec, is undoubtedly one of the masters of the jazz piano. Classically trained, he was already popular in Canada as a teenager in Canada when Jazz impresario Norman Granz became aware of Peterson in 1949 and hired him for his his extremely popular "Jazz At The Philharmonic" concerts and tours. When Granz founded his own labels such as Norgran or Verve not much later, Peterson was the pianist of choice for his productions.
Among the most popular and artistically rewarding studio encounters with Oscar Peterson on piano are the recordings with Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Songs like "April in Paris", "Autumn in New York" and many others became immortal in these versions. A four-record musical “biography” of dancer and singer Fred Astaire is a treasure long forgotten. Peterson also shaped the recording sessions with Billie Holiday, which, produced by Granz in the early 1950s, ushered in a new, more mature phase in Lady Day's vocal artistry. The albums with Anita O'Day, the young Toni Harper and the singing drummer Buddy Rich also show why the pianist was on everybody’s first call list. Peterson was a more than acceptable singer himself (and a big fan of Nat "King" Cole), as you can hear on "Soft Sands".
Tracklist:
CD 1
■ The Fred Astaire Story Vol. 1 & 2
1. Isn't This a Lovely Day? (Irving Berlin) 4.26
2. Puttin' on the Ritz (Berlin) 2.52
3. I Used to Be Color Blind (Berlin) 4.15
4. The Continental (Con Conrad, Herb Magidson) 3.29
5. Let's Call the Whole Thing Off (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) 4.36
6. Change Partners (Berlin) 3.16
7. 'S Wonderful (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 2.58
8. Lovely to Look At (Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern, Jimmy McHugh) 3.27
9. They All Laughed (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 2.55
10. Cheek to Cheek (Berlin) 5.41
11. Steppin' Out with My Baby (Berlin) 2.22
12. The Way You Look Tonight (Fields, Kern) 2.59
13. I've Got My Eyes on You (Cole Porter) 2.58
14. Dancing in the Dark (Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz) 4.47
15. The Carioca (Edward Eliscu, Gus Kahn, Vincent Youmans) 4.48
16. Nice Work If You Can Get It (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 2.08
17. New Sun in the Sky (Dietz, Schwartz) 2.27
18. I Won't Dance (Fields, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Kern, McHugh) 3.02
19. Fast Dances (Ad Lib) 2.44
Fred Astaire (vocals, tap) Charlie Shavers (tp) Flip Phillips (ts) Oscar Peterson (p)
Barney Kessel (git) Ray Brown (b) Alvin Stoller (drs)
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in December, 1952
Total Time 66.10
CD 2
■ The Fred Astaire Story Vol. 3 & 4
1. Top Hat, White Tie and Tails (Berlin) 4.01
2. No Strings (I'm Fancy Free) (Berlin) 2.55
3. I Concentrate on You (Porter) 2.44
4. I'm Putting all My Eggs in One Basket (Berlin) 2.55
5. A Fine Romance (Fields, Kern) 3.43
6. Night and Day (Porter) 4.54
7. Fascinating Rhythm (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 2.43
8. I Love Louisa (Dietz, Schwartz) 2.43
9. Slow Dances (Ad Lib) 2.57
10. Medium Dances (Ad Lib) 2.03
11. They Can't Take That Away from Me (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 4.23
12. You're Easy to Dance With (Berlin) 3.24
13. A Needle in a Haystack (Conrad, Magidson) 2.24
14. So Near and Yet So Far (Porter) 3.20
15. A Foggy Day (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 4.00
16. Oh, Lady be Good! (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 5.02
17. I'm Building Up to an Awful Letdown (Fred Astaire, Johnny Mercer) 4.00
18. Not My Girl (Astaire, Desmond Carter, Van Phillips) 3.39
19. Jam Session for a Dancer 6.24
Fred Astaire (vocals, tap) Charlie Shavers (tp) Flip Phillips (ts) Oscar Peterson (p)
Barney Kessel (git) Ray Brown (b) Alvin Stoller (drs)
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in December, 1952
Total Time 68.17
CD 3
■ Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
1. Can't We Be Friends? (Paul James, Kay Swift) 3.48
2. Isn't This a Lovely Day? (Irving Berlin) 6.17
3. Moonlight in Vermont (John Blackburn, Karl Suessdorf) 3.43
4. They Can't Take That Away from Me (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) 4.40
5. Under a Blanket of Blue (Jerry Livingston, Al J. Neiburg, Marty Symes) 4.19
6. Tenderly (Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence) 5.09
7. A Foggy Day (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 4.34
8. Stars Fell on Alabama (Mitchell Parish, Frank Perkins) 3.36
9. Cheek to Cheek (Berlin) 5.55
10. The Nearness of You (Hoagy Carmichael, Ned Washington) 5.43
11. April in Paris (Vernon Duke, Yip Harburg) 6.37
Ella Fitzgerald (voc) Louis Armstrong (voc, tp) Herb Ellis (git) Oscar Peterson (p)
Ray Brown (b) Buddy Rich (drs) Buddy Bregman (arr, cond)
Recorded at Capitol Studios, Los Angeles on August 16, 1956
■ Ella and Louis Again Vol. 1
12. Don't Be That Way (Benny Goodman, Mitchell Parish, Edgar Sampson) 5.01
13. Makin' Whoopee (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn) 3.59
14. They All Laughed (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 3.50
15. Comes Love (Lew Brown, Sam H. Stept, Charles Tobias) 2.28
16. Autumn in New York (Vernon Duke) 5.58
Ella Fitzgerald (voc) Louis Armstrong (voc, tp) Herb Ellis (git) Oscar Peterson (p)
Ray Brown (b) Louie Bellson (drs)
Recorded in Los Angeles on July 23, July 31 and August 13, 1957
Total Time 75.39
CD 4
■ Ella & Louis Again Vol. 1 continued and Vol. 2
1. Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love (Cole Porter) 8.45
2. Stompin' at the Savoy" (Goodman, Andy Razaf, Sampson, Chick Webb) 5.16
3. I Won't Dance (Dorothy Fields, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach,
Jerome Kern, Jimmy McHugh) 4.47
4. Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You (Razaf, Don Redman) 4.15
5. Let's Call the Whole Thing Off (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 4.16
6. These Foolish Things (Harry Link, Holt Marvell, Jack Strachey) 7.40
7. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm (Irving Berlin) 3.13
8. Willow Weep for Me (Ann Ronell) 4.21
9. I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket (Berlin) 3.29
10. A Fine Romance (Fields, Kern) 3.56
11. Ill Wind (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) 3.46
12. Love Is Here to Stay (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 4.01
13. I Get a Kick out of You (Porter) 4.21
14. Learnin' the Blues (Delores Vicki Silvers) 7.12
Ella Fitzgerald (voc) Louis Armstrong (voc, tp) Herb Ellis (git) Oscar Peterson (p)
Ray Brown (b) Louie Bellson (drs)
Recorded in Los Angeles on July 23, July 31 and August 13, 1957
Total Time 69.19
CD 5
■ Ella Fitzgerald The Duke Ellington Songbook Vol. 2
1. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart (Ellington, Mills, Nemo, Redmond) 4.12
2. In A Sentimental Mood (Ellington, Mills, Kurtz) 2.48
3. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Ellington, Russell) 5.02
4. Prelude To A Kiss (Ellington, Mills, Gordon) 5.29
5. Mood Indigo (Bigard, Ellington, Mills) 3.28
6. In A Mellow Tone (Ellington) 5.10
7. Love You Madly (Ellington) 4.41
8. Lush Life (Strayhorn) 3.41
9. Squatty Roo (Hodges) 3.39
10. I'm Just A Lucky So-And-So (Ellington, David) 4.16
11. All Too Soon (Ellington, Sigman) 4.24
12. Everything But You (James, Ellington, James) 2.57
13. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) (Ellington, Webster) 6.15
14. Bli-Blip (Kuller, Ellington) 3.04
15. Chelsea Bridge (Strayhorn) 3.25
16. Portrait Of Ella Fitzgerald (Ellington, Strayhorn) 16.13
Ella Fitzgerald (voc) Duke Ellington (p, narrator, arranger, conductor)
Billy Strayhorn (p, narrator) William "Cat" Anderson, Clark Terry, Willie Cook (tp)
Dizzy Gillespie (tp on track 5) Ray Nance (tp, violin) Stuff Smith (violin)
John Sanders, Britt Woodman, Quentin Jackson (tb) Johnny Hodges (as) Russell Procope (as, cl) Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts)
Frank Foster, Paul Gonsalves, Ben Webster (ts)
Harry Carney (cl, brs) Oscar Peterson (p:5-9) Paul Smith (p) Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel (git) Ray Brown, Joe Mondragon,
Jimmy Woode (b) Sam Woodyard, Alvin Stoller (drs)
Recorded in NYC on June 25 to 27 and in Los Angeles September 4 and 16, and October 17, 1957
Total Time 78.48
CD 6
■ Ella Fitzgerald at The Opera House
1. It's Alright With Me (Cole Porter) 2.32
2. Don'cha Go Away Mad (Stillman, Jacquet, Mundy) 2.42
3. Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered (Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) 3.01
4. These Foolish Things (Link, Marvell, Strachey) 3.45
5. Ill Wind (Arlen-Koehler) 2.45
6. Goody, Goody (Mercer, Malneck) 1.54
7. Moonlight In Vermont (Blackburn, Suessdorf) 3.06
Ella Fitzgerald (voc) Herb Ellis (g), Oscar Peterson (p), Ray Brown (b), Joe Jones (dr)
8. Them There Eyes (Tauber, Pinkard, Tracey) 2.07
9. Stompin' At The Savoy (Razaf, Goodman, Webb, Sampson) 5.17
Ella Fitzgerald (voc) Roy Eldridge (tp) J.J. Johnson (tb) Stan Getz, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young (ts)
Oscar Peterson (p) Percy Heath (b) Connie Kay (dr)
Recorded in Chicago on October 19th, 1957
■ Toni Harper - Toni
10. Can't We Be Friends? (Paul James, Kay Swift) 3.28
11. Could Write a Book (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) 2.39
12. Gone with the Wind (Allie Wrubel, Herb Magidson) 2.24
13. Singin' in the Rain (Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown) 2.52
14. Love for Sale (Cole Porter) 5.37
15. Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin' (Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Lee Gaines) 3.28
16. A Foggy Day (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 3.04
17. You Don't Know What Love Is (Gene de Paul) 2.36
18. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (Rodgers, Hart) 4.23
19. Little Girl Blue (Rodgers, Hart) 3.26
20. You Took Advantage of Me (Rodgers, Hart) 2.41
21. Like Someone in Love (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke) 4.27
Toni Harper (voc) Oscar Peterson (p) Ray Brown (b) Herb Ellis (git) Alvin Stoller (drs)
Recorded on December 29, 1955 and January 3, 1956
Total Time 68.17
CD 7
■ Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson
1. That Old Feeling (Lew Brown, Sammy Fain) 2.47
2. Let's Fall in Love (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) 3.20
3. I'll Never Be the Same (Matty Malneck, Frank Signorelli, Gus Kahn) 3.34
4. Blues in the Night (Arlen, Johnny Mercer) 5.18
5. How Long Has This Been Going On? (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) 6.02
6. I Was Doing All Right (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) 3.25
7. What's New? (Sonny Burke, Bob Haggart) 2.43
8. Moon Song (Sam Coslow, Arthur Johnston) 4.37
9. Just One of Those Things (Cole Porter) 4.07
10. There's No You (Tom Adair, Hal Hopper) 2.19
11. You Go to My Head (J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie) 6.28
12. Sweet Lorraine (Cliff Burwell, Mitchell Parish) 5.28
Louis Armstrong (voc, tp) Herb Ellis (git) Oscar Peterson (p)
Ray Brown (b) Louie Bellson (drs)
Recorded on October 14, 1957, at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Total Time 50.10
CD 8
■ Billie Holiday - An Evening with Billie Holiday
1. Stormy Weather (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) 3.44
2. Lover Come Back to Me (Sigmund Romberg, Oscar Hammerstein II) 3.37
3. My Man (Jacques Charles, Channing Pollack, Albert Willemetz, Maurice Yvain) 2.39
4. He's Funny That Way (Richard Whiting, Neil Moret) 3.14
5. Yesterdays (Jerome Kern, Otto Harbach) 2.50
6. Tenderly (Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence) 3.25
7. I Can't Face the Music (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler) 3.19
8. Remember (Irving Berlin) 2.37
Billie Holiday (voc) Charlie Shavers (tp: 6, 8) Joe Newman (tp: 1 to 4, 5, 7) Flip Phillips (ts: 6, 8)
Paul Quinichette (ts: 1 to 4, 5, 7) Barney Kessel (git: 6, 8) Freddie Green (git: 1 to 4, 5 7)
Oscar Peterson (p) Ray Brown (b) Gus Johnson (drs: 1 to 4, 5, 7) J.C. Heard (drs: 6, 8)
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in December, 1952
■ Billie Holiday
9. Love for Sale (Cole Porter) 2.59
10. Moonglow (Eddie DeLange, Will Hudson, Irving Mills) 3.00
11. Everything I Have Is Yours (Harold Adamson, Burton Lane) 3.45
12. If the Moon Turns Green (George Cates, Bernie Hanighen) 2.47
13. Autumn in New York (Vernon Duke) 3.43
14. How Deep Is the Ocean? (Irving Berlin) 2.59
15. What a Little Moonlight Can Do (Harry M. Woods) 3.12
16. I Cried for You (Gus Arnheim, Arthur Freed, Abe Lyman) 2.32
Billie Holiday (voc) Charlie Shavers (tp) Flip Phillips (ts: 9-13) Barney Kessel (git:9-13)
Herb Ellis (git: 14-16) Oscar Peterson (p) Ray Brown (b) Alvin Stoller (drs: 9-13) Ed Shaughnessy (drs: 14-16)
Recorded in April 1952 and April 14, 1954
Total Time 50.23
CD 9
■ Billie Holiday Sings
1. I Only Have Eyes for You (Al Dubin, Harry Warren) 2.55
2. You Turned the Tables on Me (Louis Alter, Sidney D. Mitchell) 3.28
3. Blue Moon (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) 3.31
4. (In My) Solitude (Eddie DeLange, Duke Ellington, Irving Mills) 3.29
5. These Foolish Things (Harry Link, Holt Marvell, Jack Strachey) 3.35
6. You'd Be So Easy to Love (Cole Porter) 3.02
7. You Go to My Head (J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie) 2.57
8. East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) (Brooks Bowman) 2.56
Billie Holiday (voc) Charlie Shavers (tp) Flip Phillips (ts) Barney Kessel (git)
Oscar Peterson (p) Ray Brown (b) Alvin Stoller (drs)
Recorded in Los Angeles on March 26, 1952
■ Oscar Peterson - Soft Sands
9. Soft Sands (Stein, Bregman) 2.20
10. On the Outside Looking In (Kahn, Stein) 2.34
11. It Happens Every Spring (Myrow, Gordon) 2.43
12. Chanel (Piero Umiliani) 2.41
13. You Took Advantage of Me (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) 2.00
14. Why, Oh Why (Bregman, McGuire) 3.04
15. Song to the Stars (Livingston) 2.43
16. Echoes (Johnny Mercer) 2.40
17. I've Never Left your Arms (Spence, Bregman, Keith) 2.53
18. I Can't Get Started (Vernon Duke, Ira Gershwin) 2.58
19. Dream on a Summer Night (Kahn) 2.56
20. Susquehanna (Suesdorf, Blackburn) 2.44
Oscar Peterson (p, voc) Herb Ellis (git) Ray Brown (b) Stan Levey (dr) Buddy Bregman (arr, cond)
Recorded on March 28, and July 31, 1957
Total Time 58.11
CD 10
■ Anita O´Day Sings The Most
1. 'S Wonderful/They Can't Take that Away from Me (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) 2.59
2. Tenderly (Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence) 3.22
3. Old Devil Moon (Yip Harburg, Burton Lane) 2.55
4. Love Me or Leave Me (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn) 2.34
5. We'll Be Together Again (Carl T. Fischer, Frankie Laine) 3.42
6. Stella by Starlight (Ned Washington, Victor Young) 2.08
7. Taking a Chance on Love (Vernon Duke, Ted Fetter, John Latouche) 2.24
8. Them There Eyes (Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber, William Tracey) 2.39
9. I've Got the World on a String (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) 4.00
10. You Turned the Tables on Me (Louis Alter, Sidney Mitchell) 3.43
11. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) 3.59
Anita O'Day (voc) Oscar Peterson (p) Herb Ellis (git) Ray Brown (b) John Poole, Milt Holland (drs)
Recorded in Los Angeles on January 31, 1957
■ Buddy Rich - Sing And Swing with Buddy Rich
12. Everything Happens To Me (Adair, Dennis) 3.36
13. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams (Harris, Koehler, Moll) 3.16
14. Sure Thing (Gershwin, Kern) 2.36
15. Glad To Be Unhappy (Rodgers, Hart) 3.13
16. Ballad Medley: 12.14
Over The Rainbow (Arlen, Harburg)
You've Changed (Carrey, Fisher)
Time After Time (Cahn, Styne)
This Is Always (Gordon, Warren)
My Heart Stood Still (Rodgers, Hart)
I Hadn't Anyone Till You (Noble)
Buddy Rich (voc: 12 - 15, drs: 16) Lee Castle (tp:12 - 15) Thad Jones, Joe Newman (tp: 16) Ben Webster, Frank Wess (ts) Herb Ellis
(git: 12 - 15) Freddie Green (git: 16) Oscar Peterson (p) Ray Brown (b) Louis Bellson (drs: 12 -15) Howard Gibeling Orchestra
Recorded in NYC on January 26, 1955 (12 -15) and May 16, 1955 (16)
Total Time 59.36