The first jazz album I ever bought was a trio date from Oscar Peterson, We Get Requests. As a bass player seeking to make the transition from classical music to jazz, the album was illuminating; Ray Brown set the gold standard of trio work, laying his rich, dark sounds below (though also at times above, like on "Corcovado") Peterson's barrage of notes from the piano. Drummer Ed Thigpen complemented the pairing perfectly, with his understated yet nevertheless thoroughly swinging brush- and stickwork. The trio's rendition of the then soon-to-be-standard "Days Of Wine And Roses" was particularly exemplary of how the three musicians together could make magic.
If there's one complaint about about We Get Requests, it's that the tracks are too short; none of the musicians could really stretch out.
It's for that reason that Peterson's The Sound Of The Trio, which comes from the same era as We Get Requests, stands out. On this live set, which predated We Get Requests by three years, each of the trio members had the opportunity to take extended solos. In so doing, they showed of their substantial chops, but also how they were able to fit together as a cohesive unit. Whether on a burning up tempo bop tune like Charlie Parker's "Scrapple From The Apple," a swingin' blues like "Band Call," or a surprisingly groovin' ballad like "Jim," the Oscar Peterson Trio consistently put together timeless music that is as enjoyable to listen to today as it was nearly fifty years ago when it was first recorded.
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