1959 · Album
Oscar Peterson Plays The Cole Porter Songbook
Recorded 1959 · Verve Records · Produced by Norman Granz
Peterson Swings Through Porter's Standards
Peterson's trio takes Cole Porter's elegant melodies and turns them into something swinging and alive.
Oscar Peterson came to Cole Porter's songbook as a pianist at the height of his powers. By the late 1950s, Peterson had already established himself as something special — a player with technique that seemed limitless and a rhythmic sense that could make even a simple ballad feel propulsive. Porter's songs, with their sophisticated harmonies and urbane wit, gave Peterson exactly the kind of material he thrived on.
What makes this album sit nicely in Peterson's catalog is that it's straightforward and unpretentious. The trio format — Peterson on piano, bass, and drums — strips away any need for decoration. You hear what the songs are, how Peterson voices them, and how the trio locks together. Tracks like "Night and Day" get the swinging treatment without any sense of strain. Peterson's left hand is busy but never cluttered, his right hand melodic but never sentimental. The album doesn't try to reinvent Porter; it just plays him the way a great pianist hears him.
This isn't Peterson's best-known work, and it's not the place to start if you've never heard him. That would be something like Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival (1956) where his pure skill is on display in a live setting. But if you already appreciate Peterson and want to hear how he handles a songwriter's complete vision, this delivers. It's solid, swinging, and built on the understanding that sometimes the job is to serve the song, not reinvent it. Fans of Peterson's trio work will find plenty to like here.
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