Peterson, Oscar Trio: Very Tall (w/Milt Jackson) (Verve Acoustic Sounds) LP

The first meeing on record between the unshakabley relaxed Milt Jackson and the formidably cohesive Oscar Peterson Trio is intriguing for what it reveals of Peterson's flexibility. Even without the disciplined context of the Modern Jazz Quartet, Jackson's conception always remains fully his own. The results here reveal a side of Peterson that had seldom been evident on records before. He is indeed capable of underplaying, of implying a huge reserve of strength rather than going for broke in each solo. Accordingly a warm report was established between Jackson and Peterson, and Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen were free to fall into what was basically Milt's groove. So constant was the four-way agreement that all of these performances are the result of only one or two takes. This is the kind of session that did not intend to prove anything except that being yourself among compatible souls is great fun and can produce cheerfully uncomplicated jazz of a very tall order.