© By permission of Mark Miller

Transcription:

The Globe and Mail   October 14, 1995

JAZZ

1951

Oscar Peterson

Just a Memory

Reviewed by Mark Miller

OSCAR Peterson’s U.S. recording career was nicely under way when he obliged the CBC’s International Service in 1951 with 20 concise performances from the pop-song repertoire. Previously available only as a transcription for broadcast use, they have been issued for the first time commercially on 1951 as part of a new Justin sub-series that will also include more recent Radio Canada International recordings by Maynard Ferguson, Brian Barley and Kenny Wheeler. Given the brevity of the pieces - as short as the 97 seconds of Get Happy - there’s a barely contained energy to Peterson’s playing. (Montreal bassist Austin Roberts accompanies but does not solo.) The pianist is in typically robust and authoritative form; his ballads can be a little cloying but his dazzling right-hand choruses on uptempo tunes such as Flying Home, I Got Rhythm, Seven Come Eleven and Air Mail Special are explosive. This may be early Peterson, but the best of it is classic Peterson. Either way, 1951 is of far more than simply historical interest.

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