ROY ELDRIDGE/RICHIE KAMUCA QUINTET - At the Half Note
DSOY2079
OSCAR PETERSON TRIO - `Canadian Keys`, Rare “Live” Recordings
DSOY2077
This pair of live recordings are said to have come from the collection of one Michael Arié of whom I know nothing and appear from the sound quality to have been taken from radio broadcasts or some amateur source. The first disc captures the Eldridge/Kamuca quintet in 1965 during the period Kamuca returned to New York from the West Coast where he began his professional career and made most of his most memorable recordings beginning as a sideman with Kenton and Herman before graduating to solo status.
DSOY2079
OSCAR PETERSON TRIO - `Canadian Keys`, Rare “Live” Recordings
DSOY2077
This pair of live recordings are said to have come from the collection of one Michael Arié of whom I know nothing and appear from the sound quality to have been taken from radio broadcasts or some amateur source. The first disc captures the Eldridge/Kamuca quintet in 1965 during the period Kamuca returned to New York from the West Coast where he began his professional career and made most of his most memorable recordings beginning as a sideman with Kenton and Herman before graduating to solo status.
A disciple of Lester Young his easy going style acts as a perfect foil to Eldridge’s penetrating sound and makes for a viable union. At the time of this enterprise Eldridge’s fame had peaked somewhat and recording opportunities were few. For all I know this may be the only recorded example of his association with Kamuca; if so it could be an interesting acquisition for discography hunters and though it hardly represents the best of their output everyone, including the rhythm section of Dick Katz(p) Tommy Potter(b) and Eddie Locke (d), perform the repertoire of familiar material with the accomplishment you would expect from artistes of their calibre. Interspersed between a session recorded in August `65 and a couple of tracks taped in March the following year where Tommy Potter is replaced by Don Moore, there are three tunes performed on an earlier evening with blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon which are a bit ragged both in terms of performance and recording.
The Oscar Peterson disc opens with five tracks taken from a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert recorded at Carnegie Hall in September 1952 and which I believe originally appeared on Verve. Barney Kessel is the guitarist on this occasion with founder member Ray Brown on bass. A further nine tracks find the same group at Birdland in the January of 1953 and a final six tracks from `54/55 are taken from appearances at the 1954 Newport Jazz Festival and a Steve Allen TV show with Herb Ellis replacing Kessel. It isn’t necessary to comment in any detail on the quality of the performances which are delivered with Peterson’s customary vitality and all round excellence but the recordings, which appear to be taken from radio broadcasts are less impressive and somewhat mar the listening experience.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
The Oscar Peterson disc opens with five tracks taken from a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert recorded at Carnegie Hall in September 1952 and which I believe originally appeared on Verve. Barney Kessel is the guitarist on this occasion with founder member Ray Brown on bass. A further nine tracks find the same group at Birdland in the January of 1953 and a final six tracks from `54/55 are taken from appearances at the 1954 Newport Jazz Festival and a Steve Allen TV show with Herb Ellis replacing Kessel. It isn’t necessary to comment in any detail on the quality of the performances which are delivered with Peterson’s customary vitality and all round excellence but the recordings, which appear to be taken from radio broadcasts are less impressive and somewhat mar the listening experience.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
