Oscar Peterson Trio - Live in Bremen 1961 - The Lost Recordings LP

Oscar Peterson Trio — Live In Bremen 1961

First-ever release! Live concert featuring jazz greats Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen!

Numbered edition on 180-gram vinyl 45 RPM 2LP limited to 3,000 copies!

Meticulously restored from original analog tapes

Lacquers cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio

Pressed by Simon Garcia, Marciac, France

Gatefold tip-on jackets printed in Italy

The Glocke was one of Herbert von Karajan's favorite concert halls in Europe. Located in the Hanseatic city of Bremen, a capital of commerce that gained its riches from the coffee business, it is an unusual place. The hall itself has been at the confluence of all the arts for decades. It was designed on an octagonal plan in 1737 and despite several fires, it has retained some of the finest acoustics on the continent.

On that evening in April 1961, before an audience of 1,400, the imposing figure of Oscar Peterson sat down at his piano with his two acolytes. There was Ray Brown, known to his admirers as "the handsome bassist", and Ed Thigpen, one of the most sought-after drummers on the New York scene.

Some 15 years earlier, in the mid-1940s, the Canadian pianist was on the path to becoming a classical performer. Then, influenced by popular pianists such as Nat King Cole and the prodigious Art Tatum, whom he would idolize, he suddenly changed direction. In September 1949, Norman Granz discovered Peterson at Carnegie Hall and launched his career as a jazz legend. By 1958, with some ten years of success behind him, the man his fans nicknamed "the man with four hands" and the "Bomber of Boogie Woogie" began to feel that the structure of his repertoire and interpretations needed to evolve.

Peterson had been performing chiefly with guitarist Herb Ellis (with whom he never stopped playing), but now he decided to try out working with a trio. This marked an important turning point in his artistic development. The counterpoint of the guitar gave way to the functional and rhythmic backing of the drums and bass, enabling the musical magician to give freer rein to his creativity. In the words of Quebecois novelist Claude Vaillancourt in April 2008, his concerts were imbued with the magic of "hidden pleasure." At a time when jazz, influenced by the new sounds of rock, was in the throes of deconstruction, Peterson responded by grounding his music in the deep roots of the blues, in his classical training and in popular trends. To quote Vaillancourt again, he gave a "grounded earthiness" to the flights of virtuosity that made him so famous. And with spectacular results, as this Bremen concert proves: Peterson, instead of sacrificing swing, imbues it with constant refinement and elegance, and at times even seriousness.

The concert kicks off with "Les Filles de Cadix," using the theme of Léo Delibes' famous 1874 composition, revisited by Miles Davis in 1957 on his Miles Ahead album. Initially barely perceptible, the trio ornaments and develops the theme with restraint and elegance up until the central section, where an enchanting swing takes over, before vanishing as discreetly as it had appeared. There are few tunes more popular than "I Could Have Danced all Night" from My Fair Lady, the Broadway musical that premiered in 1956. The rhythm builds up gradually, punctuated by Peterson's occasional humming, growing and amplifying before ending in a soft murmur of the piano.

"The Golden Striker" opens with a choral-like melody reminiscent of Bach. Peterson's solo part is solemn; his delicacy nevertheless has forcefulness. His inspiration is drawn from a musical phrase and here, his classical training is evident. A variation follows on from a sudden stop: a wild swing with responses first from Brown and then Thigpen, and Peterson's flourishes on the piano. In only four minutes, the trio propels us into a vortex with the intensity of their performance. A few calm words introduce "Where Do We Go From Here?," a springtime ballad, which, in contrast with the preceding piece, is light and carefree; we could imagine ourselves on the the banks of a cool, undulating stream. The virtuosity of the piano is so subtle as to be almost imperceptible, and time stands still until the very last chord, delicately played in arpeggio.

"My Funny Valentine" is a standard that needs no introduction, but only after a few minutes does the solo piano, still leaving a role for the bass and drums, finally unveil the theme. Peterson drives his fellow musicians to increase the rhythm, the substance, the power. Brown responds with a solo that is just as enchanting. The last piano notes restore the lightness that Frank Sinatra had imparted to the song. Peterson gently introduces "I've Grown Accustomed to her Face", another song from My Fair Lady. Although the melody is less well known, the swirls of the piano in this interpretation transport the listeners into a thrilling whirlwind of delight. With "Blues for Big Scotia", the concert comes to an end in a different register: the trio gives us a version that is truly original. Dazzling arpeggios lead into a series of chords, , reminiscent of Peterson's experiences touring in the Deep South.

The Lost Recordings retrieved the tapes of this landmark concert from the archives of the Bremen Radio, and many long weeks were spent on their restoration. As the trio leaves the stage to the thunderous applause of the German audience that we can hear here, it is clear that Oscar Peterson is an alchemist of genius, and in a certain sense, his very own Pygmalion who sees his transformations through to end. Already a master of swing, Peterson surpassed himself in every way. He broadened his repertoire and constantly reinvented himself, all the while remaining faithful to his innermost self. His legacy, the magical lustre he brought to jazz, is priceless.