Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Always
2. 'S Wonderful
3. Air Mail Special
4. The Nearness of You
5. Soft Winds
6. Stompin' at the Savoy
7. Love for Sale
8. April in Paris
9. Just One of Those Things

Disc 2:

1. Star Dust
2. That Old Black Magic (Part 1)
3. That Old Black Magic (Part 2)
4. This Can't Be Love
5. Willow Weep for Me
6. How High the Moon
7. Blues for Norman
8. I Can't Get Started
9. Moonglow
10. Stardust
11. That Old Black Magic, Pt. 1
12. That Old Black Magic, Pt. 2
13. This Can't Be Love
14. Willow Weep for Me
15. How High the Moon
16. Blues for Norman
17. I Can't Get Started
18. Moonglow

Disc 3:

1. It's Only a Paper Moon
2. The Way You Look Tonight
3. Flying Home
4. These Foolish Thing
5. Don't Be That Way
6. Dinah
7. On the Sunny Side of the Street
8. Je ne Sais Pas
9. It's Only a Paper Moon - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet
10. Way You Look Tonight - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet
11. Flying Home - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet
12. These Foolish Things - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet
13. Don't Be That Way - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet
14. Dinah - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet
15. On the Sunny Side of the Street - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet
16. Je Ne Sais Pas - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet

Disc 4:

1. It's a Blue World
2. It's a Blue World - LP master take
3. It's a Blue World - 78-rpm master take
4. The High and the Mighty
5. When the Saints Go Marching In
6. Flying Home
7. Midnight Sun
8. Tenderly
9. Hallelujah
10. Indiana
11. But Beautiful
12. Indiana
13. It's a Blue World
14. It's a Blue World [LP Master Take]
15. It's a Blud World [78-Rpm Master Take]
16. High and the Mighty - Lionel Hampton & His Quartet, Oscar Peterson
17. When the Saints Go Marching In
18. Flying Home - Lionel Hampton & His Quartet, Oscar Peterson
19. Midnight Sun
20. Tenderly - Lionel Hampton & His Quartet, Oscar Peterson
21. Hallelujah - Lionel Hampton, Lionel Hampton & His Quartet, Oscar Peterson
22. (Back Home Again In) Indiana
23. But Beautiful - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet, Oscar Peterson
24. (Back Home Again In) Indiana

Disc 5:

1. Hamp's Boogie Woogie
2. Hamp's Boogie Woogie - 78-rpm take
3. Honeysuckle Rose
4. Honeysuckle Rose - short version
5. China Boy
6. A Foggy Day
7. A Foggy Day 78-rpm take
8. Love Is Here to Stay
9. Body and Soul
10. It's Only a Paper Moon
11. Sweethearts on Parade
12. Date With Oscar
13. Hamp's Boogie Woogie [LP Master Take] - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet, Oscar Peterson
14. Hamp's Boogie Woogie [78-Rpm Master Take] - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet, Oscar Peterson
15. Honeysuckle Rose - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet, Oscar Peterson
16. Honeysuckle Rose [Short Version] - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet, Oscar Peterson
17. China Boy - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet
18. Foggy Day [LP Master Take] - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet, Oscar Peterson
19. Foggy Day [78 rpm Master Take] - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet
20. Love Is Here to Stay - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet, Oscar Peterson
21. Body and Soul - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet, Oscar Peterson
22. It's Only a Paper Moon - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet, Oscar Peterson
23. Sweethearts on Parade - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet, Oscar Peterson
24. Date With Oscar - Lionel Hampton & His Quintet, Oscar Peterson

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #120824 in Music
• Released on: 1999-06-22
• Number of discs: 5
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com
This five-CD set might begin with sultry, quavering vibraphone and delicately struck piano notes, but the temperature stays low for only the briefest of time. For the rest of the set, the temperature is high and the groove is on. Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton and pianist Oscar Peterson joined arms in the studio fewer than 10 times between 1953 and 1954 to cut the 15 or so records that comprise this set. They were an in-studio band exclusively, never unleashing their alchemy on audiences, perhaps because Hampton didn't need to--at least in a material sense. From historical and aesthetic points of view, it's a shame Peterson and Hampton didn't take this unit to the stage. Buddy Rich, who drums on all the sessions, is monstrous, playing wistfully along on "These Foolish Nights" and then blazing through "Flying Home," emphasizing how potent a vibes-fronted band could be in the postbop days of the early 1950s. These years were also the historical launching point for the most successful band ever to feature vibes and piano, the Modern Jazz Quartet. And maybe Hamp was looking to blast off, too, asserting himself in powerhouse swing sessions as the MJQ refined themselves into a restrained ensemble that made sense equally to classical and jazz fans--engaging a genuine dialogue over the differing paths this instrumental setup could take. In any event, Hamp blasted off, and OP shows himself primed for the speed and power. There are numerous spots across these tracks where the band is cruising so fast and playing so hard that you can hear both Peterson and Hampton grunting, not as Keith Jarrett is wont to do, but as weightlifters do. Certainly Ray Brown's ever-present bass is elemental to the force, but Rich's drumming is so intense and unyielding that the band is almost destined to play up to his force field. Given all that, there really isn't much here that will strike most listeners as visionary or revolutionary. Things cook fervently, as if the band is hell-bent on pressing core swing elements home in an era when the music's popularity was waning. --Andrew Bartlett

From Jazziz
In the boxed-set department, there are your must-haves, your best-ofs, your previously unreleased treasure chests, and a set like this - a collection that does absolutely nothing but give pleasure. It ain't important, ain't essential, ain't the artists' most important work (for Hamp, look to his small-group RCAs; for Oscar, check out his Verve trio stuff), it ain't even in a nice box (it's in a flimsy, ugly, burlap-and-cardboard box). But the next time you hear somebody introduce a concert by saying, "Folks, we're going to be swinging for you tonight," you can hold this up as a standard to the term "swinging." These guys swing so hard it hurts. Hampton and Peterson met in a recording studio in September, 1953. By a year and two weeks later, they had recorded several years' worth of albums, everything in this five-CD set. They were typical Verve affairs - the players called the tunes in the studio (standards, of course) and blew. Bassist Ray Brown and drummer Buddy Rich were there, guitarist Herb Ellis made a date, and clarinetist Buddy DeFranco joined a date. We're not talking minimalism. We're talking sweaty, grunting (Hamp and Oscar both grunting, at times with frightening ferocity), in-your-face swing - torrents of notes (even on the ballads), all sluicing through a groove as wide and deep as a canyon. They cascade through "Dinah," "Flying Home," "Indiana," and a few dozen others - sultans of swing in their domain. It's a set you might not need, but - and this is the ticket - it's a set you'll continue to pull down from the shelf for one reason: pleasure.

--- Lee Jeske, JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.

Customer Reviews

More Outstanding Small Group Swing Sessions from Verve
Thank God for Norman Granz - the undervalued genius who produced these sessions and founded Verve! I say that just about any time I pop in one of my 1950's small group swing CD's from the Verve vaults. And this collection is no exception. In fact it might represent a pinnacle of sorts where Granz was able to bring together some of the finest swing musicians of the period and let them just wail. Recorded in 1953 and 1954, this 5-CD set is ripe with standards and some blues, most of which are up tempo and driven hard behind the rhythm section of Ray Brown on bass, Herb Ellis on guitar and Buddy Rich on drums. The interplay between Peterson on piano and Hampton on vibes makes these recordings come to life and a bit of Buddy De Franco on clarinet is icing on the cake. There's a single CD compilation if you're not certain that a vibes and piano lead session is for you but this is one box set worth owning and listening to again and again.

THIS IS JAZZ!


Hamp and O.P. swing like crazy on these most excellent tracks. Bonus is Buddy DeFranco on clarinet: damn! he's good!!

All these guys work together so well; the standards are great; the recorded sound is great: this is jazz! Totally worth the price.

Born Too Late
I am 44 years old so most of this was recorded before I was born. I am discovering this whole new world of jazz. My music taste are all over the place but I find myself coming back to Hamp & Oscar. I put this in my CD player at work and have not changed CD's for nearly two weeks. For those of you new to these men this is a great introduction. For those of you who have been fans for a long time thank you for the reviews and leading me to this great music.

Do yourself a favor and buy this set.