Oscar Peterson Plays Porgy & Bess

Epitomizing.

You know it when you see it (to quote the infamous Justice Potter) and you get a lot of it around here. If I like something, I tell you so, and I don’t hold back on the verbiage to get my point across. So, should we give it another go?

Oscar Peterson, who in his lifetime had all too often been shunned by jazz critics and fans alike because of his supposed technical showmanship and supposed repetitive use of “set pieces” or clichés (take your pick), has an impressive oeuvre to his name. I have been known to strongly disagree with his detractors time and again and I’ve written the Internet thin, under various monikers, up in arms against this groundswell that has so far proven to be insurmountable in certain circles, and I don’t really care if I was successful. I just think it is important to raise my voice here and there to at least make my point of view known. Continue Reading →

“Some people try to get very philosophical and cerebral about what they’re trying to say with jazz. You don’t need any prologues, you just play. If you have something to say of any worth then people will listen to you.” (Oscar Peterson)

Oscar Peterson Trio: London House Sessions, ‘61

I believe it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who once said “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” Well, color yourself happy and call me shallow or just – as I do – go for Seneca instead: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” No matter what, I was damn lucky, and in my present circumstances that is not something that’s lurking around every corner. Several stars must have been aligned just right: I stumbled into this godforsaken CD shop populated by people who did not really know what they were selling. The usual money-making machinery. It was early in the morning, just after they had opened for the day. They were shop-cleaning, removing Britney Spears to be replaced with, err, Mariah Carey. All in all, a perfect day for jazz lovers.

As I was leafing through their jazz section, which consisted mostly of no-name, cheap, and copyright-free CD re-releases of the worst quality, interspersed with some better stuff (none of it recent), I saw this thicker ring-bound CD collection sticking out. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what I was looking at. The cover is rather weird and only upon closer inspection are the words “London House” and “Oscar Peterson” discernible – most of the rest is illegible at best. Considering the low quality surrounding this find, I didn’t really expect much but still, I decided to have a closer look. Continue Reading →