Search - Buddy Defranco, Oscar Peterson :: Play George Gerswin

This "limited edition" (9,500 copies) reissue of clarinetist DeFranco's 1954 meeting with piano great Peterson is both charmingly mellifluous and slightly dated, in the manner of Charlie Parker's "with strings" recordings. (Norman Granz oversaw both.) But by the second cut--a languid workout on "I Was Doing All Right"--the charm wins out. The pair, aided by the likes of Herb Ellis on guitar and Ray Brown on bass, also apply a light once-over to "S'Wonderful," "They Can't Take That Away from Me," "It Ain't Necessarily So," and other well-chosen melodies from the Gershwin book. The CD adds two alternate takes. --Rickey Wright