WBGO Blog

  • A few thoughts on Oscar Peterson

    December 28, 2007. Posted by Andrew Meyer.

    Add new comment | Filed under: bgo, brushes, cd collection, cole porter songbook, doug carter, exposures, jazz, Jazz Alive, Jazz Osmosis, Masters, music, off broadway, oscar peterson, osmosis, previous life, scene changes, summer stock, vermont, york stage

    Oscar Peterson's passing this week got me to thinking about one of my first exposures to jazz...

    I wasn't always a news guy.

    As some of you might know, in a previous life, I did tech work in theater, both Off-Broadway and summer stock in Vermont. One summer in the early 90's, I was involved with a production of a new Doug Carter Beene play (which eventually moved to New York) called The Country Club. I wouldn't necessarily call it the most memorable of Beene's plays (who has had great success on the New York stage), but one of the things I remember the best from that production is the music selected for scene changes: Oscar Peterson Plays The Cole Porter Songbook.

    Album Cover

    I didn't know nearly as much then about jazz as I do now (you can't work at a place like 'BGO and not at least soak it in through osmosis), but I did recognize that this was a special album and a tremendous talent. I ended picking up a copy of this for my own cd collection. It was one of my first brushes with jazz, a good place to start. Thank you, Oscar.

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