Oscar Peterson Trio - Stratford, Ontario, Canada, 1956 (1996)

Here's a jazz trio par excellence, making full use in 1956 of the setting's possibilities of airtight collaboration and shifting emphasis. Oscar Peterson and his classic trio-mates, Herb Ellis on guitar and Ray Brown on bass, heading straight at a lively selection, never hint that they might have liked a drummer along. The model, of course, is Nat King Cole's drumless trio, but Peterson also had been inspired by the rococo and rapid fire of Art Tatum. With breathtaking, huge-handed technique, he unerringly swings deep and high, with a profound sense of rootedness. Ellis and Brown never slouch. Ellis takes a star turn on "How About You?" while on "Swinging on a Star," Brown displays his own mastery and panache. --Peter Monaghan