Record Reviews

OSCAR PETERSON ~ WALKING THE LINE MPS 4029759113447 (Barcode: 4029759113447) ~ CANADA ~ Jazz Recorded: 1970 Released: 2016 This is a reissue of an album by Canadian Jazz pianist / composer Oscar PetersonFind albums by this artist, which was his tenth album for MPSFind albums on this label out of the fifteen albums he recorded for the label, all produced by the legendary label´s founder Hans Georg Brunner-SchwerFind albums by this artist. The album features a trio, which includes bassist Jiri MrazFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. George MrazFind albums by this artist) and drummer Ray PriceFind albums by this artist, and performs eight tunes, one of which is an original composition by Peterson and seven are standards. Peterson is considered as one of the greatest Jazz piano players of all times and has to this day many faithful fans all over the world. He undoubtedly was a Master musician and his technique was nothing short of brilliant, but his repertoire stayed within very constrained, mainstream oriented material, leaning towards the more entertaining side of the Jazz idiom. As such, his audiences included many music listeners beyond the strict Jazz sphere. Although brilliantly recorded and wonderfully swinging, this music, especially in retrospect, made little impact on the development of the Jazz idiom. Peterson recorded very prolifically (over two hundred albums), but his albums sounded all quite similar to one another, and this album is no exception. The many Peterson fans will surely love to have this album back in circulation, especially with an enhanced / remastered sound and elegant packaging. Side Note The legendary German MPSFind albums on this label (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald) label, founded by Hans Georg Brunner-SchwerFind albums by this artist (HGBS) in 1963, first as SABAFind albums on this label Records and later on from 1968 as MPS Records, was the most important independent European record label, which had an enormous contribution to the development of European Jazz. For many years MPS cooperated with the legendary German producer / author Joachim BerendtFind albums by this artist, my Friend and Mentor, whose visionary approach and open-mindedness brought the crème de la crème of the Jazz (in the broadest meaning of the word) musicians from all over the world to the label. Between 1963 and 1983 MPS produced about five hundred albums, many of which are among the most important Jazz recordings on this planet. In 1983 the MPS catalog was sold to UniversalFind albums on this label, which sadly resulted in all those artistic treasures to almost disappear from the face of the earth – a situation not only tragic but culturally criminal. Universal reissued a part of the MPS albums (probably 128 titles) on CD between 1999 and 2011 under the "Most Perfect Sound Edition" moniker. Since 2008 the German Promising MusicFind albums on this label label released some of the MPS recordings, but at a very slow pace. In 2014 the German company Edel AG bought the MPS catalogue from Universal and released a series of 25 MPS albums on CD with a new slipcase graphic design, which brought all those excellent albums back to life. In 2015 Edel AG started to record and release new albums under the MPS moniker. In 2016 Edel AG released a series of 10 classic MPS albums on CD, which were beautifully remastered and re-packaged, presenting the original artwork and liner notes, as well as new liner notes and photographs. An obvious labor of love, these reissues are what the MPS catalogue truly deserves. This project was continued in 2017 with another series of 10 classic MPS albums released on CD. In later years some new reissues were released sporadically. Over the years many SABA / MPS albums were reissued in Japan, which is often the only available source for these albums today, but that is a story in itself.

Updated: 28/05/2018Posted: 20/12/2016

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