Lester Young & The Oscar Peterson Trio

    I just finished re installing my record player into my room. I had it there for a while but as my record catalogue grew, I couldn’t house everything, so I moved operations to the basement. As my home life extends and the lingering sets, I felt I needed it back up for my sanity. To re christen my baby, I pulled out a double LP compilation of the great tenor sax innovator, Lester Young. The first record is a session with Teddy Wilson, and the second LP is with the Oscar Peterson Trio. Two LP’s of Prez with the great Pianists, but I decided to spin the Peterson disc.

    First and foremost, what’s left to be said about Lester Young? he developed his own laidback, lyrical approach to playing that is a complete contrast to his contemporary, Coleman Hawkins. With that, he is playing with perhaps the strongest backing band in Jazz music at the time. Oscar Peterson is perhaps the most celebrated pianist of his day, and his explosive soloing and masterful comping makes any jazz musician want to have him for his session. Ray Brown is without a doubt the most fervent bassist of the 1950’s, and Barney Kessell holds down the fort on Guitar. J.C. Heard is the drummer on these recordings, and even though he's a great drummer, his addition isn't needed for the Peterson Trio, they always do fine on their own. 

    The up tunes on this album are very good, Lester shines on "Ad Lib Blues", but what always gets me is his remarkable ballad playing. His version of “I Can’t Get Started”, is without a doubt one of my favorite ballad performances in all of jazz music. Young’s so sincere and tender with his playing, nothing is over played, nothing is played just to be played, every note is right where it belongs and has a reason for existing. Kessell’s steady arpeggiated chordal playing and Brown’s off beat quarter and eighth note passages give the tune proper forward momentum. This is the type of record I would give a rhythm section member to teach them how to play a ballad at a masterful level.

    This was recorded in 1952, at a time before Young’s alcoholism would destroy him and tarnish his playing for good. His playing isn’t as fiery as with Count Basie, but it’s not gone yet, like recordings later in the decade would show. The Oscar Peterson Trio could adapt to any musician or singer and really make the soloist sound ten times better. If you're looking for a Jazz album that is very approachable and yet still gives off high sophistication, then this is the disk for. Even though I hadn't mentioned it, the Teddy Wilson session is also worth your time.

Listen for the ballads, stay for the bop!