# Hello Herbie: Oscar Peterson is strong, precise and absolutely flawless: Videos, Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2018/03/29/hello-herbie-oscar-peterson-is-strong-precise-and-absolutely-flawless-videos-photos/
- Published: 2018-03-29T12:28:26+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Pianist Oscar Peterson first heard guitarist Herb Ellis in the spring of 1953.
Ellis was playing at a club in Buffalo, N.Y., with the Soft Winds, a trio featuring
Johnny Frigo on bass and violin, and Lou Carter on piano. **

Peterson and Ellis met briefly between sets, and the pianist filed away Ellis’s 
name. That summer, guitarist Barney Kessel, left the Oscar Peterson Trio. Tired 
of relentless touring, Kessel had decided to take on a growing list of recording
commitments in Los Angeles. But before he left, Kessel recommended a guitarist to
take his place: Herb Ellis.

[⌊Herb-ellis-albums⌉⌊Herb-ellis-albums⌉[
 Ellis joined Peterson and bassist Ray 
Brown in Boston in the late summer of ’53. Over the next five years, the Oscar Peterson
Trio became one of the most tireless and in-demand jazz groups in the country. The
trio not only toured throughout the year but also recorded as the de-facto house
band for Norman Granz’s Verve label.

Ellis had plenty of endurance and a technique to match Peterson’s keyboard bombast,
weaving lyrically in and around the pianist’s purposeful, muscular attack and soloing
with a gentle flash. By 1958, Ellis was a superstar sideman and left the group to
accompany Ella Fitzgerald in the studio and on tour. Peterson replaced Ellis with
drummer Ed Thigpen.

[⌊Screen Shot 2018-03-26 at 7.47.30 PM⌉⌊Screen Shot 2018-03-26 at 7.47.30 PM⌉[
 In the years
that followed, Ellis recorded as a leader and as a sideman, mostly in Los Angeles.
In 1965, he recorded with Peterson and Brown again on _With Respect to Nat_. Another
four years would pass before Ellis and Peterson would be reunited in the studio.
In November 1969, Ellis was in Europe and was convinced by MPS Records to team up
with Peterson, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Bobby Durham in Villingen, Germany,
at MPS’s Black Forest recording studios.

[⌊Cover-3⌉⌊Cover-3⌉[
 The result was _Hello Herbie_. On the album, Peterson is strong,
precise and absolutely flawless, while Ellis takes brash solos when he’s not playing
tasty rhythm guitar behind Peterson. The tracks are _Naptown Blues, Exactly Like
You, Day By Day, Hamp’s Blues, Blues for H.G., A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening_
and _Seven Comes Eleven_. [Photo above, from left, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson and
Herb Ellis]

The high-points for me on the album are Wes Montgomery’s _Naptown Blues_ and the
standard _A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening_. The former is a thrilling explosive
swinger that features Ellis playfully doing a thumb-driven Montgomery impression
before shifting into his own stylistic approach. Peterson’s solo is pure Milt Buckner,
unleashing cascades of block chords. The latter song is taken at a walking tempo,
giving the listener a chance to hear the articulation of both musicians in comparative
slow motion.

[⌊Cover⌉⌊Cover⌉[
 The next three MPS studio albums by Peterson were equally magnificent:
_Tristeza on Piano,_ recorded in January and February 1970 with Jones and Durham;
_Walking the Line_ from November 1970, with George Mraz on bass and Ray Price on
drums; and _Tracks_, a solo album, also recorded in November 1970.

Oscar Peterson died in 2007; Herb Ellis died in 2010.

![Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer u. Oscar Peterson (c)MPS-Archiv -Home Studio Villingen01](
http://marcmyers.typepad.com/.a/6a00e008dca1f0883401bb09feb748970d-500wi)

**[Photo above of Oscar Peterson with MPS Records’ Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer in 
Germany, courtesy of MPS]**

_Triste_ from _Tristeza on Piano_…

_Once Upon a Summertime_ from _Walking the Line_…

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