Track Listing

1. My Foolish Heart
2. Judy
3. Round Midnight
4. Someday My Prince Will Come
5. Come Sunday
6. Nightingale
7. My Ship
8. A Sleeping Bee
9. Portrait Of Jenny
10. Goodbye

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #63440 in Music
• Released on: 2009-02-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .13 pounds
• Running time: 40 minutes

CD Description
As a straight-ahead bop pianist, Oscar Peterson was withoutpeer, his miraculous touch bearing lightness and precision at once, but he always had musical appetites that stretched outside the bebop menu as well. On this 1963 recording he explores some of those urges, bringing his trio into the worldof legendary arranger Nelson Riddle, where the latter's moody, impressionistic orchestrations back Peterson's highly melodic statements. The feel rarely moves beyond the pastoral,but the Peterson/Riddle combination brings a novel approachto standards like "My Foolish Heart" and "Someday My PrinceWill Come".

Customer Reviews

Oscar Peterson and Nelson Riddle
I have admired Oscar Peterson and Nelson Riddle for over 50 years. Nelson, from the time I bought my first LP "Swinging Lovers", and Oscar from the first time I saw him, touring with Ella and Jazz At The Philharmonic. Both were superb at what they did best - Nelson arranging for all the great vocalists like Sinatra, Ella and Nat Cole, and taking swinging strings to new heights with such wonderful orchestral albums as "Hey Let Yourself Go", and Oscar playing with any of his Trios, jamming with the likes of Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge at JATP sessions, dueting with Basie or just accompanying Ella and Louis. But until recently I had never known that they had recorded together more than 45 years ago. Then, Malcolm Laycock played "A Sleeping Bee", a track from this recently re-issued album on his Radio2 Big Band Show. This is a gently relaxed, swinging number showing them at their typical best, and on the strength of this I bought the CD.

Unfortunately, despit the mutual admiration displayed by both artists in the sleeve notes, with the exception of "Someday My Prince Will Come" the only other number thar swung, the rest were in my opinion, a disappointment - to be filed under the index Late Night Listening - techinically faultless but somehow lacking that spark that I was expecting. Perhaps this is why I missed the album first time round. I have hundreds of recordings of both artists most of which I would rate 4 or 5 star, but Im sorry to say this album does not rank particuarly highly.

If, like me, you're an ardent fan of both, then add it to your collection. But as my Desert Island Discs choice or as an introduction for anyone unfamiliar with their works, I would go for Nelson's "Hey Let Yoursef Go" album and any of Oscar's Trio albums.

Verdict: Disappointing.