Another fine
Webster
release on
Verve
that sees the tenor great once again backed by the deluxe
Oscar Peterson Trio
. In keeping with the high standard of their
Soulville
collaboration of two years prior,
and the trio --
Peterson
is joined by bassist
Ray Brown
and drummer
Ed Thigpen
-- use this 1959 date to conduct a clinic in
ballad
playing. And while
certainly ranks as one of the tenor saxophonist's best discs, the
Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson
set gets even higher marks for its almost transcendent marriage of after-hours elegance and effortless mid-tempo swing -- none of
's
boogie-woogie
piano work to break up the mood here. Besides reinvigorating such lithe strollers as
"Bye Bye Blackbird"
(nice bass work by
Brown
here) and
"This Can't Be Love,"
and company achieve classic status for their interpretation of the
Sinatra
gem
"In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning."
And to reassure
fans worried about scant solo time for their hero, the pianist lays down a healthy number of extended runs, unobtrusively shadowing
's vaporous tone and supple phrasing along the way. Not only a definite first-disc choice for
newcomers, but one of the
jazz
legend's all-time great records. ~ Stephen Cook