Exclusively for My Friends: Lost Tapes
Between 1963 and 1968, Oscar Peterson released a series of six albums for the German MPS label. Recorded before a live audience in an elegant, old Black Forest villa, the albums had a looser, more intimate feel than the commercially minded projects he cut with American producer Norman Granz. This album consists of previously unreleased performances from '65 to '67. On the later sessions, bassistRay Brownand drummerEd Thigpenare replaced bySam Jonesand Bobby Durham, respectively. Peterson reins supreme on the keys, leavening his baroque flourishes, which eventually came to characterize his playing, with convivial good vibes.--Rick Mitchell