Night Train

An essential jazz corner stone album. You have to repeatedly listen to know what this timeless master piece is and how great the Oscar Peterson trio are. If only words could do it all, there was no need for music! I will therefore stop trying to use more words to talk about the music here on this album. Listen to believe it.

CD Review: Verve 1997An outstanding recording and sound quality. The tones and timbres of the instruments have been captured. The overall sense is one of realism especially as the instruments each sound very lifelike.The clarity of the recording lends itself to a very good sound stage which is wide and deep, projecting an excellent stereo image. The mix is on the whole well balanced.A rich rewarding recording.I have not set out to write reviews of the music content as “beauty is in the ears of the listener”. These reviews are about the quality (or not) of the recorded sound. To read about how the reviews are done please see my profile. • Clarity – very good • Channel separation – very good • Channel balance – very good, instruments well placed and easy to locate. Well defined stereo image • Sound Stage – excellent wide and deep. Good definition, right drums, left bass, centre piano but combines into an excellent whole • Distortion – non audible • Compression – a vibrant recording with tremendous depth and dynamic range. Lively and inviting. • Atmosphere – spacious but not particularly evocative of any setting such as a club as little sense of space or place • Bass – low frequencies – the acoustic bass is in the room with you. The string resonance is clearly audible as is the very rich warm tone of the instrument. The timbre has a plummy undertone. The bass does not get lost in the background or mix. The drum sound is good, crisp and clear. There is a slight lack of definition when all the musicians are playing however this recording is still better than most. The snare is crisp and sharp. The cymbals “shimmer” but are reasonable not overly bright or shrill. The cymbal sound does vary from track to track. The drum sound is punchy and on the whole very realistic. • Treble – high frequencies – The piano sound is stunning, it is well recorded and sounds good across the whole range. The upper frequencies have a good “plink” and sound realistic. Overall the note decay is good. It is easy to imagine that the piano is in the room. When played hard the sense of urgency has not been lost. • Vocals - noneAs a general rule of thumb recordings from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s are nearly always better on the original vinyl. Remasters often fail to please as it’s just not possible to make a silk purse from a sows ear, i.e. the original recording lacks the necessary detail to be processed digitally and show an audible improvement. Indeed such processing can make the sound worse.Modern recordings which have been processed digitally from start to finish can be as good as vinyl. CD’s are often unfairly criticised for being poor quality. This is not the case, it is the original recording or the process which is to blame. Modern “remasters” can both enhance and degrade a recording. The statement GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) is the limiting factor. Ignore this at your cost.

Resistance is futile.I`ve never understood criticism of Oscar Peterson, whether the complaint that he `plays too many notes` or that his playing is in some way facile, his musical points too easily earned, so to speak. They said similar things about Mozart, and he didn`t do too badly for himself in the end, either.I must have more albums with Oscar Peterson on than almost any other jazz musician, so many times was he used as a sideman on someone else`s date - which says much for his standing among his peers, who would hardly have wanted him on the keys if they hadn`t respected and admired him.Dedicated to his father, a sleeping-car attendant on Canadian Pacific Railways (OP being a Canadian himself of course) what strikes the listener to this typically immaculate set is the room everyone has to breathe, solos taking place in a background of measured ease. Peterson could play just about anything, and he has with him two superlative musicians in tasteful, chunky bassist Ray Brown (1926-2002) and the crisp and even drumming of Ed Thigpen (1930-2010). The uptempo numbers swing like hell, Oscar playing with clarity and endless invention. He could do a slow tune to break your heart, and, happily, there are quite a few here among all the high spirits. Try "I Got It Bad" - beautiful!There are times - eg. on Easy Does It - where I could have done with a guitar to break the trio spell, perhaps a solo from Barney Kessel or Kenny Burrell, but no matter, there`s a lovely lazy breadth to the playing that needs no gilding of lilies.On this remastered edition, with extra tracks, Peterson`s piano has a glorious gleam to it, the bass is heard as clear as could be, and the whole thing smacks of class.A classic recording.

A brilliant classic.Just one blemish: Ellington's Night Train (the title track) was originally released as two sides of a 7" 45rpm (remember those?) back in the days when jazz records could be "hits" in the pop charts. So the performance comes to an artificial halt half-way through (for you to turn the record over - and to make side A a stand-alone for radio broadcasting), before picking up again on side B. Why the two halves were not properly edited together for the CD beats me. Simple to have done, stupid not to have done.

I love this album. I listened to Oscar when i was a child, my dad was always playing it and countless other jazz records and it reminds me of good times. Setting aside nostalgia this makes me realise just how talented Oscar Peterson is, hes one of very few pianists that still gives me the shivers. I can truely relate to this recording and i shall look out for more classic Peterson Trio recordings in the future. There isnt a dud in this collection, its a true classic worthy of 10 stars at least and I hope you love it as much I do.

This is a wonderful example of the Oscar Peterson music I wanted in my collection. There are so many CD's to choose from that I deliberated for a long time over which one I should buy. I'm very happy with Night Train but I may have done better to opt for one of the double CD collections, as my only negative on this CD is that it is a bit short. It's still a fabulous listen and inspiring for anyone keen on playing jazz/blues....