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Does Oscar Peterson get a bad rap?


Hardbopjazz

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23 minutes ago, Captain Howdy said:

Either everyone is entitled to his opinion or no one is. 

Once again, context matters. Granted, this place has long been the home of epic threddrift (and for that, we should all be proud). But just hauling off in an existing Subject A to hard-left into a direct attack on a single poster is not threaddfift, any more than lurking in an alley waiting for that cockscuker who fucked your wife last week to come walking by so you can beat the shit out of him is a random act of manrage.

You know, if you want to call somebody an asshole, be a boss and start a specific thread about it. There's precedent!

 

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I like a lot of Oscar's playing. I think the "London House" set is a great set of a working band in situ and some exciting playing from all three of the trio. I like his early work too, the earliest stuff that is on an RCA set and on a Hip-O-Select set. The man is a part of jazz history, in part because of his service as "house pianist" for Granz's JATP period and in part for his status as a popular artist in the genre in the 'fifties and 'sixties and beyond.

Decided to play this one, which I like a lot.

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2 hours ago, Captain Howdy said:

IMO Justin's post was contextually appropriate. I took it to mean that Allen's opinion about OP was influenced by factors besides his playing. Whether it was warranted I don't know.

How the hell, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, could my feelings about his playing have anything to do other then with his playing? Think about it. It’s idiotic to suggest. Do I hate Miles Davis because he is popular? Benny Goodman? Louis Armstrong? The Beatles? Count Basie? Tyshawn Sorey? David Murray? I could go on and on because it’s so ridiculous. I first listened to Oscar Peterson when I was 14 years old in 1968 and I didn’t like his playing then and I don’t like it now. You have to have some evidence before you make charges. Is there some kind of pattern to my dislike based on sales and popularity? Prove it then. You can’t because there is no pattern and no proof.

Edited by AllenLowe
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A number of posters indicated that while they like (at least some) of Peterson's recordings with Ray Brown & Ed Thigpen and/ or the ones with Sam Jones &  Bobby Durham and maybe Louis Hayes, they don't care for his playing on the Pablo label.

Some of his things on Pablo are not items I care much for either.  However there are quite a few on Pablo that I do like. Some examples are his series of duo sessions with trumpet players, especially the one with Dizzy Gillespie and the duo with Milt Jackson. Others I enjoy are his  Montreux sessions with a variety of good players such as Milt Jackson, Dizzy, Lockjaw, Clark Terry & Toots Thielemans.  The Oscar Peterson - Count Basie sessions are great fun to my ears. Also I like his Bach Suite on "Oscar Peterson Live". So while some don't like his playing on Pablo, I do not share that view.

I should also say that some of his things on Telarc, perhaps his final recordings are also very enjoyable.

 

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1 hour ago, Peter Friedman said:

A number of posters indicated that while they like (at least some) of Peterson's recordings with Ray Brown & Ed Thigpen and/ or the ones with Sam Jones &  Bobby Durham and maybe Louis Hayes, they don't care for his playing on the Pablo label.

Some of his things on Pablo are not items I care much for either.  However there are quite a few on Pablo that I do like. Some examples are his series of duo sessions with trumpet players, especially the one with Dizzy Gillespie and the duo with Milt Jackson. Others I enjoy are his  Montreux sessions with a variety of good players such as Milt Jackson, Dizzy, Lockjaw, Clark Terry & Toots Thielemans.  The Oscar Peterson - Count Basie sessions are great fun to my ears. Also I like his Bach Suite on "Oscar Peterson Live". So while some don't like his playing on Pablo, I do not share that view.

I should also say that some of his things on Telarc, perhaps his final recordings are also very enjoyable.

 

The title of this thread is misleading IMO.

The individual preferences which  one of his groups they like or not is a private statement and thats it.

I have collected Peterson from his very early recordings on over all periods. My preferences are the trios with Brown and Kessel and/or Ellis. The Brown/Kessel fomation was the house rhythm serction for Norman Granz and is  basis for many great records with all the great names you can find. The MPS recordings are also great for their sound. There is no doubt that he is one of the great names in jazz and  this remains.

The private statements from some people what they like or not has nothing to do with the quality Oscars playing. Thats a fact.

Private opinions respected but they do not mean anything about the status of an artist like Peterson or others.

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My deal is I have him on some JATP and other period Clef 78 rpm items and that about does it.  I'm not really into collecting pablo yet  I just have one joe pass lp.  I aboustely saw him I was standing outside the glass but directly next to the piano with full close piano view.  NHOP was in there, but coudlnt see him from my position.  but yes full close view of keyboard

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6 hours ago, Milestones said:

What's on the Mosaic set?  I'm not familiar with that.

 

https://www.discogs.com/Oscar-Peterson-The-Complete-ClefMercury-Studio-Recordings-Of-The-Oscar-Peterson-Trio-1951-1953/release/2952855

From an amazon review:

 The recordings are presented in sequential order by recording date rather than in the order of release date. One of Norman Granz's peculiarities was that he would record marathon sessions and then mix-and-match tracks to put together albums. Most of the recordings presented in this box were initially released on 10 inch LPs, but when they were repackaged into 12 inch LPs. CD releases of some (but not all) of this material has mirrored the 12 inch LPs. The material in this box can be found spread across the following LP / CD releases: "Romance", "An Evening with", "Nostalgic Memories", "Recital", "An Oscar for Peterson", and the Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Jerome Kern, Richard Rogers, and Vincent Youmans entries in the "Oscar Peterson Plays ..." series.

Edited by jazzbo
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14 minutes ago, Brad said:

Most of the Mosaic features Barney Kessel and Ray Brown. The portion I listened to on disc 1 was excellent, in my opinion.

From the Mosaic YouTube site:

 

Considering they were referring to TRIO sessions, those recording session photos that they chose look decidedly cramped to me. :D

Could it be that Mosaic relied heavily on Esther Bubley??

 

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1 hour ago, Big Beat Steve said:

Considering they were referring to TRIO sessions, those recording session photos that they chose look decidedly cramped to me. :D

Could it be that Mosaic relied heavily on Esther Bubley??

 

Yes, she took photos of the session. 

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