©Newport Daily News, Ken Franckling

Transcription:

Saturday, October 6, 1990

The Newport (R.I.) Daily News

Entertainment Section

[Picture]
JAZZ KING - Oscar Peterson, above, Ray Brown and Herb Ellis recently recently released a CD Capturing the magic of their reunion concerts last year at the blue Note Clubs in Tokyo and New York. They were joined by drummer Bobby Durham.

Oscar Trio, Live At The Blue Note (Telarc, CD-83304)

The combination of keyboard giant Oscar Peterson, Peterson, Ray Brown and Herb Ellis set a high standard from 1954 to 1959 for the piano-bass-guitar jazz trio, pioneered a decade earlier by Nat King Cole.

These fun-loving musicians reunited earlier this year for back-to-back two-week engagements at the Blue Note jazz club in Tokyo and the Blue Note in New York.

It was the first time they played together in more than 20 years but sounds like they never disbanded. They were joined by Drummer Bobby Durham.

This was the nostalgia gig, though it may have had a certain drawing of power for the audience regardless of the powerhouse status of each participant. Many of the tunes they played were new things written by Peterson.

"Peace for South Africa", rich in texture, opens with a piano solo, the other players joining Peterson one by one to create a work of joy and optimism that is one of its highlights.

Also top drawer are an extended 14:52 medley of "I Remember You," "A Child is Born" and "Tenderly" (Peterson Solos through the two tunes before passing the reins to Brown, then Ellis), and an explosive yet sometimes playful version of "Sweet Georgia Brown."

It leaves you thirsting for more. That said, there is more good news. The producers describe this disc as the first in a series of recordings recorded at the Blue Note in New York last March 16, 17 and 18.

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