Oscar Peterson – Classic Verve Albums Collection (4 CDs) ENLIGHTENMENT

Born 25th August, 1925 in Montreal, Canada, Oscar Emmanuel Peterson grew up in Little Burgundy, a predominantly black neighbourhood in greater Quebec. He took up piano and trumpet at age five, quickly becoming adept on both instruments. At seven he was diagnosed with tuberculosis which prevented him from playing the trumpet, he thus concentrated on the piano during this time, practising four to six hours a day. Studying under the Hungarian-born player Paul de Marky – himself a student of virtuoso Istvan Thoman – the young Oscar began learning classical piano but later switched to jazz styles, most notably ‘boogie-woogie’. By 1961, with the piano-bass-drums line up now firmly established, the OPT performed a week’s residency at The London House, a renowned jazz spot in Chicago. These performances were among the finest the new line-up ever gave, and were released on Verve as four separate albums; The Trio, Something Warm, The Sound Of The Trio and Put On A Happy Face, in ’61 and early ’62. The following year, Peterson’s most commercially successful record Night Train (Verve, 1963), was released, another Trio masterpiece that due to it’s shorter track times, received considerable radio play. Oscar Peterson’s extraordinary career spanned more than 60 years during which time he won eight Grammys among a host of other awards and honours, and played on over 200 albums. His live repertoire was equally impressive and the great man remains among the most respected jazz musicians of all time. This 4CD collection brings together eight of Oscar Peterson’s finest albums, all recorded for the esteemed Verve label during his heyday in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A dynamic introduction to Peterson’s best work, this box set equally serves as a welcome reminder for those already familiar.

– Disc 1 –
1 I Want to Be Happy
2 Pennies from Heaven
3 Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered/Dont Know Why (I Just Do)/How Long Has This Been Going On/I Can’t Get Started/Polka Dots and Moonbeams
4 I’m Glad There Is You
5 Tour’s End
6 I Was Doing All Right
7 Bronx Blues
8 The Touch of Your Lips
9 When Your Lover Has Gone
10 Bye Bye Blackbird
11 How Deep Is the Ocean
12 In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
13 Sunday
14 This Can’t Be Love
– Disc 2 –
1 I’ve Never Been in Love Before
2 In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
3 Chicago
4 The Night We Called It a Day
5 Sometimes I’m Happy
6 Whisper Not
7 Billy Boy
8 (There Is) No Greater Love
9 I Remember Clifford
10 Autumn Leaves
11 Blues for Big Scotia
12 Swamp Fire
13 I Love You
– Disc 3 –
1 Tricrotism
2 On Green Dolphin Street
3 Thag’s Dance
4 Ill Wind
5 Kadota’s Blues
6 Put on a Happy Face
7 Old Folks
8 Woody ‘N’ You
9 Yesterdays
10 Diablo
11 Soon
12 The Lonesome One
– Disc 4 –
1 Night Train
2 C Jam Blues
3 Georgia on My Mind
4 Bags’ Groove
5 Moten Swing
6 Easy Does It
7 Honey Dripper
8 Things Ain’t What They Used to Be
9 I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good)
10 Band Call
11 Hymn to Freedom
12 Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)
13 The Days of Wine and Roses
14 My One and Only Love
15 People
16 Have You Met Miss Jones
17 You Look Good to Me
18 The Girl from Ipanema
19 D & E
20 Time and Again
21 Goodbye J.D