The Oscar Peterson Big 6
At Montreux

THE REVIEW

Four-Pieces-Four. Only four, but each quite long: ten minutes per track, allowing six music legends to fully develop their own expressions. Collected on an album recorded live at Montreux in '75; four standards captured live, in a favorable and stimulating context such as a jazz festival in one of the pivotal centers, a highlight among worldwide jazz festivals. Credited to Oscar Peterson, acting as bandleader and catalyst, this beautiful piece of music history brings together the six absolute world-class protagonists just when they are each at the pinnacle of their maturity and with an evident, unstoppable desire to interact with each other and with the audience; perhaps to reaffirm, definitively, that if man is on earth, he is also here to create wondrous things like this.

An exceptionally remarkable performance by all musicians: no one more prominent than another, resulting in a balanced product with impeccable recording, carried out for Pablo by Norman Granz, an old fox of correct tonal jazz (audiophiles: take note!). It's worth mentioning that here Toots Thielemans bestows a sacred dignity as a 'serious' musical instrument to the harmonica, introducing themes or responding on par with interventions by musicians who are objectively unmatched. Music enjoyable on various levels and perfectly representative of jazz art in its best sense; a highly recommended album for injecting the jazz virus into a friend or for ultimate personal gratification. A broad audio landscape for crystal-clear acoustic music, ranging from Peterson's sparkling tone, fast and precise as always across all keyboard areas, to the intimate and intense dialogue of Joe Pass; from the long sustained notes on the vibraphone by a fine craftsman like Milt Jackson, to Thielemans' bright, brilliant and joyful harmonica. All supported by a rhythm section of precision and creativity that it's just a pity you can't witness with your own eyes; Louis Bellson, a versatile, clean drummer and a formidable band leader himself, interacts in textbook symbiosis with an absolute 'swing machine', the late Niels Pedersen.

There's not much else to say except that this album can be considered one of the finest ever recorded. Highly recommended for all ears!

Tracklist
1. Au Privave
2. Here's That Rainy Day
3. Poor Butterfly
4. Reunion Blues