Oscar Peterson And Count Basie – "Satch" And "Josh"

This is by no means the first pairing of Oscar Peterson and Count Basie, and always seems like pairing that shouldn’t work, nevertheless it does, and splendidly so, with perhaps their contrasts being what allows these two piano players to sound so outstanding together. Yet riding under the current, setting the stage and laying down the groundwork was Louis Bellson on drums and Ray Brown on bass, along with Freddie Green on guitar, where all of the players come together to create a warm rich harmonic atmosphere where they don’t so much play off of each other, but rather for and with each other to create a sonic whole of precision and grace.

This is a piano dominated outing, and one that’s designed for vinyl, where the intimacy and inferences are well defined as your tonearm gently floats between the grooves and spectacular notes simply ooze from your speakers in a sparkling manner that resides somewhere between boogie woogie and smooth up tempo bebop jazz from the mid 1970’s that really swings.

*** The Fun Facts: The Song “Jumpin’ At Woodside” was the first song ever recorded by Count Basie back in 1938, with the song’s title referencing the Woodside Hotel, located at Seventh Avenue and 142nd Street in Harlem. The hotel was black owned and operated back during segregation, and became a haven for jazz musicians to stay and play, along with the American Negro Baseball league. The place was operated by Love B Woods, hence the name.

The track “Lester Leaps” also has a long history, going back to 1939, crediting Lester Young and his tenor saxophone, when Young and Basie recorded this masterpiece in Kansas City. Calling the song “I Got The Blues,” Eddie Jefferson set lyrics to the song.

As to the album’s title, ’Satch’ or Satchmo was the nickname of Louis Armstrong the jazz trumpet player. ‘Josh’ was Joshua Daniel White, who also recorded his Piedmont blues guitar styles under the names of Pinewood tom and Tippy Barton.

The song “RB” references Ray Brown the bass player, while “Louie B” references Louis ‘Louie’ Bellson the drummer.

Review by Jenell Kesler