Oscar Peterson Trio “Bursting Out with the All-Star Big Band”

This Oscar Peterson Trio (O.P. plus Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen, and an orchestra) record from 1962 isn’t my favorite Oscar Peterson, but I love it nonetheless, as an energetic jazz record with fine songs—all good, though the two I hear in my dreams are “I’m Old Fashioned” and “Here’s that Rainy Day.” The full title is “The Oscar Peterson Trio with the All-Star Big Band! “Bursting Out”—and as we know, evidenced by everything from “The Dream Team” to Thanksgiving Dinner, more isn’t always more, and sometimes gives you a stomachache or gets schooled by Europeans. That’s not a good set of analogies, I guess—these sleek arrangements have nothing in common with mashed potatoes and stuffing—it’s just hard to resist, as it’s that time of year, and in recent years I’ve found it advantageous to reel it in a bit. I don’t know what they had in mind with the cover—glossy, black night sky with slow-exposure fireworks that resemble sea creatures or cat toys. The record could be called, I suppose, sparkly ball celebration—or the cover photo could be pretty much anything—though I would prefer if the inside cover was the cover—b&w photos of the trio, thinking, listening, smoking. At least there is an inside cover, with some weighty jazzbo liner notes by Leonard Feather. What else does the record make me think of? I suppose documentary films, but good ones, that make you think. Also, that it could have come out this week—absolutely not dated—or even the near future—next month—2022—sixty years later—or maybe even sixty years from now.

Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 “Equinox”

I have traditionally seen Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 records in thrift store record racks with alarming regularity, so I assume they were quite popular in the Sixties when A&M records was putting them out. I might have had issues with them had I been the age I am now, in 1967—who knows—the popularized, Americanized versions of Brazilian pop songs. But if that had been the case, I’d be 115 years old now—and I’d hope to be mellowed out a bit by the age of 115—and if I’m still writing these record “reviews” I would hope to be making some money at it. Hit records were everything back then, unlike now. I’m kidding. Anyway, time certainly smooths out more things than scotch and bad marriages. I’ve had and lost several Brasil ’66 records in the past—and they are usually not far from my turntable—and a regular fixture on date night, along with the ice bucket, Canadian Club, sweet vermouth, and Angostura bitters. I have yet to find any of these records lacking in their ability to warm up a cold winter evening. This is one of my favorites (not that I’ve heard them all), every song is good. It’s just as smooth as the album cover looks—the band looking up at the photographer as if he’s on the mezzanine, looking down on the display window of Macy’s travel department. Sergio Mendes and the three guys are wearing tasteful but very cool suits and ties, and the two women are wearing those long sweaters that are also dresses—matching design but different colors. What’s the name of those sweater dresses? It can’t be “sweater dress”—come on! Anyway, these are particularly cool. You could probably find them on eBay, and not for cheap—but if I get to the point where I’m buying women’s clothing just because it’s cool (it would not be flattering on me) someone better take my credit card away. I’ve got no particular favorites on this record, but I love their rendition of “Night and Day”—a song I once played over and over (Sinatra version, on cassette) in my car to keep awake, driving across the country. My only complaint is that the record is so short—five sub-three-minute tunes per side, average—so you have to keep getting up to change the record, which tends to break the mood a little bit when, you know, you’re on a date, or something approximating a date. But I still prefer that to, you know, contemporary ways of listening.

Various Artists “At The Hop!”

This is three record set put out by Brookville Records, who apparently pressed reissues and various artists compilations for your hi-fi; I was attracted to the weird packaging because it’s subtly disturbing. Nothing special—it’s just kids at a sock hop who kind of look like zombies. It includes 36 rock’n’roll favorites, most of which have been played to death. I’m going to listen to the whole thing and see if there are any songs I absolutely love. Well, Lesley Gore, of course, even the overplayed stuff. Oddly, I’ve never gotten tired of the Angels’ “My Boy Friend’s Back” or the Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine”—it’s just the sound those songs have. While “Get A Job” by the Silhouettes is unlistenable, the song “Silhouettes” by The Rays is a clever tune about voyeurism, jealous rage, and mistaken identity that I haven’t heard one million times—weird song. “Love Potion No. 9” by the Clovers doesn’t totally bug me. Every version of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” makes me want to puncture my eardrums, and none more than this one by the Tokens. “To Know Him Is To Love Him” is way too familiar, but this version by the Teddy Bears is nice, as is “A Thousand Stars” by Kathy Young & the Innocents. The version of “Sheila” by Tommy Roe sounds like a way different version than on the Tommy Roe LPs I have, which is interesting. I should be through with “The Loco-Motion” by Little Eva, but I still love that song. Everything else on this collection I could very easily be okay with never hearing again; I might even pay good money to be guaranteed to be eternally free from some of them!

The George Shearing Quintet “Latin Affair”

This is another good one, from 1959, by the George Shearing Quintet, plus, or including the conga playing of Armando Peraza. As usual, a mixture of Latin numbers and standards, all falling together well. What’s amazing is that it manages to be both laidback and uptempo at the same time. I have to say, George Shearing music is one of the only places I can not only tolerate, but enjoy, music that might be considered “jaunty.” An exceptionally nice album cover, too—a woman with a rose in a nearly abstract composition. Could I call this one of my favorites? Probably, but only because it starts with one of my favorite versions of “All or Nothing at All” and then just gets better. But it’s hard to compare to the other Shearing records I have; I’d have to hear them all back-to-back… which isn’t a bad idea. What I want to do, as soon as I make some money, is have a big place, apartment or house, with a lot of space. Maybe a sunken living room—which is where I’ll have my Hi-Fi and records. Plenty of room for the records, of course, so eventually I’ll buy every George Shearing album—nearly 100 of them—and that’s all I’ll play for a while—until I’m intimate with them, and able to tell you what songs are where, etc. Then I’ll do a ranking of all of them, from best to not quite as good—and I’ll publish that somewhere. I suspect they’ll be hard to rank—there might be some ties, even—and I also suspect I’d be tempted to set up a bar in one corner of the sunken living room—maybe even designate a separate cocktail for each of the over 100 or so records. I don’t think I’ll actually start drinking again, though—it sounds too tiring—even though this might be the ultimate cocktail music. It’s a lot of dreaming, but still, I might be able to find and buy all the records, eventually, and I might even pull off the sunken living room.