Today, Verve Records is thrilled to announce the release of Oscar Peterson Trio: Live at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, due out April 17. The stunning collection of previously unreleased performances was recorded in August of 1960 at Detroit’s legendary Baker’s Keyboard Lounge. The album unveils Oscar Peterson’s only recorded performance of the 1929 standard “S’posin,” which debuts today offering a thrilling preview of the trio at full tilt. Listen to the “S’posin” and pre-order the album here.
Captured during a two-week engagement at the height of the trio’s powers, the recordings feature Peterson with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen. Already one of the most celebrated groups in jazz, the trio breathes as one throughout these performances, phrasing with uncanny unity no matter the tempo or complexity. Whether roaring through flag-wavers or caressing ballads with lyrical grace, the ensemble’s seamless interplay and aristocratic swing embody what pianist Roger Kellaway famously described as Peterson’s “will to swing.”
The setting was equally iconic. Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, located on Detroit’s historic Livernois corridor, has a legitimate claim as the oldest continuously operating jazz club in the world. In 1960, Detroit was a thriving cultural capital and a national jazz stronghold, and Baker’s—with its intimate 99-seat room that hosted the era’s greatest artists—was its epicenter. Peterson himself performed there 18 times between 1957 and 1972, forming a deep bond with the club and its devoted audiences. These recordings now join a short list of historic live documents captured within its storied walls.
Live at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge will be available in multiple formats. The standard version (CD and 1LP) features key selections from the five sets performed that evening, while the complete recordings (D2C exclusive 3LP and digital) present all five sets in the order they were played, accompanied by extensive liner notes by Detroit jazz historian Mark Stryker. Discovered decades later in a mislabeled box in the Verve vaults, these tapes surface in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Oscar Peterson’s birth on August 15, 1925. More than six decades after they were recorded, these new-to-the-world performances stand as a powerful reminder: there has never been, and will never be, anyone quite like Oscar Peterson.
Live at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge Standard Tracklist
1. Politics & Poker
2. Dancing on the Ceiling
3. S’posin
4. Django
5. Liza (All The Clouds’ll Roll Away)
6. Where Do I Go From Here?
7. Yesterdays
8. Softly As In a Morning Sunrise
9. The Touch Of Your Lips
Live at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge Complete Recordings Tracklist
LP1/SIDE A
1. Autumn Leaves
2. Django
3. Confirmation
4. Whisper Not
5. Closing/Billy Boy
LP1/SIDE B
1. The Touch Of Your Lips
2. Ill Wind
3. Chicago
LP2/SIDE A
1. I Love You
2. Closing/Blues For Big Scotia
3. Dancing On The Ceiling
4. Politics & Poker
5. Where Do I Go From Here?
LP2/SIDE B
1. I Didn’t Know What Time It Was
2. Liza (All The Clouds’ll Roll Away)
3. Yesterdays
4. Softly As a Morning Sunrise
5. S’posin
LP3/SIDE A
1. I Remember Clifford
2. Let There Be Love
3. Swamp Fire
4. Closing/Intros/Blues For Big Scotia
5. Satin Doll
LP3/SIDE B
1. Woody ’n’ You
2. My Funny Valentine
3. Scrapple From The Apple
4. Closing/Intros/Billy Boy/When The Saints Go Marching In