Additional information
Personnel: Oscar Peterson (piano); Ray Brown (bass); Ed Thigpen (drums). Recorded in Paris, France on May 18, 1959. Master pianist Oscar Peterson works the ivories in typically impressive fashion on this 1959 tribute to Frank Sinatra. Performing with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen, Peterson runs through 12 instrumental versions of songs made popular by Ol' Blue Eyes, including, naturally, faithful renditions of Sinatra signatures "Witchcraft" and "I Get a Kick Out of You." Though the trio takes a swinging, intensely jazzy approach to these tunes, there is no excessive stretching out here--each cut clocks in at less than four minutes. Likewise, Peterson, Brown, and Thigpen color strictly inside the lines here, keeping things highly melodic, laid-back, and elegant. This is music more appropriate to a candlelit dinner than to a smoky club. But the appeal of A JAZZ PORTRAIT OF FRANK SINATRA is in this very distinction; Peterson and company quite obviously set this date to make an intimate, romantic, and beautifully listenable record.
