And The Oscar Peterson Quartet

The first six selections on this CD are from a long-out-of-print LP featuring the brilliant clarinetist Buddy DeFranco with the Oscar Peterson Quartet (Peterson's trio plus drummer Louie Bellson). While the six selections are all standards, DeFranco and Peterson produce plenty of fireworks with the majority of the numbers being taken up-tempo. DeFranco sounds flawless on clarinet, making it sound so easy to play lightning-fast runs; few other clarinetists have ever come close. The final selection, a very long and extremely up-tempo version of "Lullaby in Rhythm," was released domestically in The Complete Norman Granz Jam Sessions. It has the same five musicians plus trombonist Bill Harris, Flip Phillips on tenor and both Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie on trumpets. Peterson really romps through his four-minute opening solo and surprisingly, Harris has no difficulty with the ridiculous tempo, nor does Phillips. The two trumpeters both struggle a bit (particularly Eldridge) before the song finally ends at over 23-and-a-half minutes. While that jam is available elsewhere, it is fun to hear, and the rest of this CD both borders on the classic and was formerly rare. Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow|