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 © By permission of Mark Miller
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Transcription:
The Globe and Mail October 14, 1995
Peterson's Energy Bursts out of Early
Recordings
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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