Classics 1949-1950

his second installment in the Classics Oscar Peterson chronology opens with eight sides recorded in Montreal for the Victor label in March and November of 1949. After a Babs Gonzales-inspired version of "Oop-Bop Sh-Bam" (a rare example of Oscar Peterson the vocalist), the trio takes off at Bud Powell velocity on "Sweet Georgia Brown." Although the author of the liner notes tried to impose stylistic delineations by stating that Peterson was "firmly rooted in the swing tradition" but "never played bebop," the truth of the matter is that Oscar Peterson came up in the middle of the 20th century at a time when music critics were struggling to invent categorical definitions to match a music that was evolving at a rate slightly faster than the speed of sound. If Peterson must be placed somewhere in the early modern jazz schematic, it should be among Erroll Garner, Nat King Cole, Al Haig, and Bud Powell. To say that Peterson "never played bebop" is misleading, preposterous, pointless, inane, and also factually incorrect. Bop logic erupts consistently throughout most of the performances heard here. How could anyone deny the bop content and indeed almost frightening dexterity demonstrated in Peterson's lightning-quick execution of his original composition "Nameless"? Contemplate instead the evolution of Peterson's instrumentation over the space of 14 months. Beginning with the trio involving bassist Austin Roberts and drummer Clarence Jones, the chronology leads to a modified trio with guitarist Ben Johnson replacing the drummer, and then to the threshold of Oscar Peterson's lifelong partnership with producer Norman Granz in the form of eight duets with bassist Ray Brown recorded for Mercury in March of 1950. Here and on seven duets with the mighty Major Holley recorded on May 8, 1950, Peterson emerged onto the U.S. jazz scene as a fully mature and somewhat formidable interpreter of ballads, standards, and the occasional original invention. One mistake to report: track 11, originally issued as Mercury 8921, is not Rodgers & Hart's "Lover" but rather Sigmund Romberg's "Lover Come Back to Me." That appears to be the only flaw in this wonderful survey of some of Oscar Peterson's all-time greatest recordings. ~ arwulf arwulf|