Count Basie & Oscar Peterson – The Timekeepers {Pablo}[xrcd]

Review from cduniverse.com

The pairing of pianists Count Basie and Oscar Peterson might seem unlikely, given their stylistic differences. Basie’s notoriety resulted from his ability to say a lot with a little, while Peterson has been celebrated as a modern technical master, whose solos were full of riveting phrases, lines, and statements. Yet the duo made effective partners on this reissued 1978 session and often played against their reputations. Basie has several solos where he demonstrates impressive technique, while Peterson, often accused of overkill, shows he can utilize restraint and delicacy with as much flair as bombast and flash. ~ Ron Wynn
This classic 1978 recording pairs two stylistically dichotomous piano legends: Count Basie, the master of understatement, and Oscar Peterson, the partisan of power & embellishment. Also featured on this landmark session are drummer Louis Bellson & John Heard

Tracks:
01 – I’m Confessin’ (That I Love You)
02 – Soft Winds
03 – Rent Party
04 – Indiana
05 – Hey, Raymond
06 – After You’ve Gone
07 – That’s the One

Personnel:
Oscar Peterson – piano
Count Basie – piano
Louis Bellson – drums
John Heard – bass

Recorded at Group IV Studios, Hollywood; February 21 and 22, 1978.

Quality: eac, flac, cue, log, artwork

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Count Basie – Mostly Blues… and Some Others {Pablo}

Review by Scott Yanow (allmusic.com)

Count Basie’s final small-group studio session (one of a countless number for Norman Granz during Basie’s last decade), this outing features trumpeter Snooky Young (who was last with the orchestra in the early ’60s), tenor great Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and the dependable guitarist Joe Pass (along with rhythm guitarist Freddie Green). The repertoire lives up to the album’s title: blues and swing standards all played with joy and spirit.

Tracks:
01 – I’ll Always Be in Love With You
02 – Snooky
03 – Blues for Charlie Christian
04 – Jaws
05 – I’m Confessin’ that I Love You
06 – I Want a Little Girl
07 – Blues in ‘C’
08 – Brio

Personnel:
Count Basie – piano
Snooky Young – trumpet
Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis – tenor sax
Freddie Green – rhythm guitar
Joe Pass – solo guitar
John Heard – bass
Roy McCurdy – drums

Recorded at Group IV Studios, Hollywood, California; June 22, 1983

Quality: eac, flac, cue, log, artwork

Count Basie & Oscar Peterson – Night Rider {Pablo}[OJC]

Review by Scott Yanow (allmusic.com)
When they first met up for a full album in 1974, the two-piano team of Count Basie and Oscar Peterson must have seemed like an unlikely matchup. After all, Peterson is known for filling up his rapid solos with virtuosic passages while Basie is the master of the “less-is-more” approach, making every note count. But because Peterson has such high respect for Basie, he showed great self-restraint and left room for Basie’s percussive solos. Night Rider, like their two previous joint albums, emphasizes the similarities rather than the differences in these two masters’ styles.

Tracklist:
01. Night Rider (12:39)
02. Memories of You (04:57)
03. 9:20 Special (03:20)
04. Sweet Lorraine (07:08)
05. It’s a Wonderful World (03:21)
06. Blues for Pamela (08:07)

Personnel:
Count Basie – piano (organ on “Memories of You”)
Oscar Peterson – piano (electric piano on “Blues for Pamela”)
John Heard – bass
Louis Bellson – drums

Recorded at Group IV Studios, Hollywood; February 21-22, 1978.

Label: Pablo – OJC
Year: 1992
Genre: Jazz
Style: Standards, Piano Jazz
Total Time: 39:31

Quality: eac, flac, cue, log, artwork