1. In the Still of the Night 2. It s All Right With Me 3. Love for Sale 4. Just One of Those Things 5. I ve Got You Under My Skin 6. Ev ry Time We Say Goodbye 7. Night and Day 8. Easy to Love 9. Why Can t You Behave? 10. I Love Paris 11. I Concentrate on You 12. It s De-Lovely

#Oscar Peterson s Trio Performance:One of the Best. (2003-07-02) This re-release by Verve preserves, in my opinion, one of the best trio performances. In the Still of the Night , Peterson s subtle single melody nuances and left hand chords are complimented by Ray Brown s wonderful bass. Ed Thigpen maintains the tempo with his stylish brush technique. The rest of the CD is hampered only slightly by the volme inconsistencies from one number to the next, created by the studio. This is a great CD.

#BUY IT EYES CLOSED (2003-05-31) OSCAR PETERSON s 1959 piano tribute to COLE PORTER is a joy even if it s only 33 minutes long. We could have take an another half hour of this music. What makes it so enjoyable is the variety of moods it delivers. There was actually another PORTER songbook recorded in mono,but for a reason i ignore,they did not coupled it with this one to make it last longer. A message to VERVE:did they lost the masters of the RICHARD RODGERS songbook,and if not,what are they waiting for?

#Oscar Peterson is S wonderful (2003-01-26) How can one go wrong setting Cole Porter music down. . . How can the Great Oscar Peterson go wrong either? He didn t. Oscar is a shining example of what makes a truely wonderful, gifted musician. His dynamics, touch and feeling are really a joy to listen to. Well done! Enjoy!

#cole porter and rythm (2001-02-25) well, i can play Cole in 1. 000 ways . All the ways are wonderful.

#Yes, oh yes, indeed, yes, yes, yes! (2000-05-20) Every time I play this CD people ask about it. I have never seen something so universally loved. It creates and sustains a lazy summer afternoon mood like no other.

1. All I Want 2. My Old Man 3. Little Green 4. Carey 5. Blue 6. California 7. This Flight Tonight 8. River 9. Case of You 10. Last Time I Saw Richard

Joni Mitchell would go on from this `71 recording to make more popular, more ambitious, and more challenging albums, but she s never made a better one. Working with minimal accompaniment (Stephen Stills and James Taylor are two of the four sidemen), the Canadian thrush summoned an involving song cycle of romance found and lost. Though Blue is an uncommonly intimate representation, it s also astonishingly open and gracious. Songs such as All I Want, Carey, California, and A Case of You work equally well as poetry and pop music. --Steve Stolder

#Unbelievably sweet (2008-10-21) Although it s almost forty years old, this album sounds so fresh. Mitchell s guitar and piano is wonderfully fluid. And then there s her voice. An instrument so fine, the notes send shivers down the spine. Part of the mystique of this album is the honesty, even fragility of emotions. But there s just as much artistry in Joni Mitchell s Blue. A melancholy beauty. A well-worked gem of an album. The kind of music I remember hearing in kitchens with granola in the cupboard. Or at dawn just as the first birds start to sing. Frost on the grass.

#Probably the Greatest Album.. Ever. (2008-07-05) Joni Mitchell sings a lot of jazz and her songs are so often layered with whimsy and flutes and seem quite thick. While I am overall, a fan of Mitchell s repetoire, none of her albums have managed to penetrate my soul like her masterpiece, the omnipresent, beautiful, spectacularly sad, rich, and of course, appropriately titled, Blue . Blue is a staple for so many reasons. It captures a kind of nostalgia that someone who, like myself, is too young to experience the cultural movements in the 1960s such as the move to California and ...

#Blue ....The most overrated album of all time! (2008-05-01) It may very well be one of the most overrated albums of all time. Yes, Joni is a legend, yes she is a great lyricist and a great musician but after all the accolades, I have to ask myself does her music talk to me? Does her grating vocal style make me want to listen to 3 consecutive songs without being annoyed. I love Joni and I own all her albums so please don t hang me to dry on this. If you want poetic, sparse, personal folk music with the Joni style vocal meanderings, this is the baby you are looking for. She has...

#Desert island record (2007-10-20) On CBC radio there once a program on which people chose the 5 records or books they would take with them if the were lost on a desert island for the rest of their lives. This album is number 1 on my list of 5 I would take with me. I could listen to this album every day, no problem. Joni Mitchell is a genius, plain and simple.

#the most addicting album ever (2004-07-15) ",Just before our love got lost you said, I am as constant as a northern star, and I said, constant in the darkness, where is that at? If you want me I ll be in the bar. . . ", -Case of You, BlueIt takes alot for me to listen to an album over and over and over and over. . . and still not get sick of it. i ve had ",Blue", for about 3 years and Joni still makes it into my cd player more than once every few days. There are at least 2 songs that most passerbyers would recognize: ",California", and ",River",, but m...

1. Court and Spark 2. Help Me 3. Free Man in Paris 4. People s Parties 5. Same Situation 6. Car on a Hill 7. Down to You 8. Just Like This Train 9. Raised on Robbery 10. Trouble Child 11. Twisted

Painter-turned-folksinger Joni Mitchell had slipped stark saxophone solos into her prior album, For the Roses, and her singing had often hinted at a capacity for bluesier fare than her guitar- and piano-framed confessional ballads offered. None of those hints prepared fans for this sudden, expansive shift towards a much larger canvas--a sleeker, orchestrated pop style pulsating with jazz elements. Court & Spark found Mitchell casting aside her earth mother affectations and revealing herself as the thoroughly modern, thoroughly complicated woman she is, the songs sustained familiar preoccupations with relationships but replaced courtly settings and naturalistic imagery with recognisably modern locales. Deeply romantic, constantly questioning, classic tracks like the title song, Help Me, Free Man in Paris, Same Situation and Raised on Robbery display a more liberated Mitchell, ready to rumble with unbridled electric guitars (guest Robbie Robertson on ...Robbery), even willing to poke fun...

#HIt me with your best shot (2007-07-31) Though the Top 40 hits Help Me and Free Man in Paris are worth the price of this CD, Court and Spark, as a whole, is a great arrangement of tunes released during what is perhaps the Golden Age of Songwriting. Not your typical folk Joni Mitchell material, this is essentially her jazz phase release, some might say that it is her signature piece. I would not dare go that far, but it is not surprising that it was her biggest chart success, because it blends so well with the music of the other great artists of the time, namely Carly Simon, Carole Ki...

#Joni sells out (2004-07-06) Pretty provocative title, eh? Well, Joni did sell out, but she was one of the last to do so, and when she did the whole hippie thing had been over for some time anyway. But no doubt when this album arrived in 1974, it was the death nell for many hangers-on (except Neil Young) that the revolution, the counterculture movement, the attempt to get ourselves back to the garden, was certifiably defunct. In retrospect the tracks seem more innocent, but in the lyrics Mitchell herself alludes to a change that has come. From Free Man In Paris we have the disap...

#wistical (2004-05-21) This music was the soundtrack for an all-too-brief courtship in northern Arkansas in 1975-76. I have evolved beyond the person I was then but not beyond this timeless music or beyond the influence of the woman I met on the Norfork Lake ferry. That love sparked a string of serendipities and synchronicities that continue three decades later. ",Court and Spark", could not have been equalled by any other music for the poetic commentary it provided to that interlude and my second birthing.

#It s Springtime Again!! (2004-04-20) I just got reading a eulogy for drummer John Guerin, who was the drummer on this masterpiece by Joni Mitchell. No song in the world makes me think of spring more than ",Help Me. ", John Guerin s amazing drumming make this the perfect, floating out-of-body-experience song. I have heard this song thousands of times in my lifetime, but every single time I do, I marvel at its breeziness, as if I m hearing it for the first time. So the next time you have a second to relax, put on ",Court and Spark", and drink a toast to John, for t...

#The Only Joni Mitchell Album You Will Ever Need!!! (2004-03-30) Throughout all of her albums, Court & Spark is probably my favorite Joni Mitchell album. Court & Spark is Joni s experimentation with rock, jazz, and pop. This was a big change for Joni back in the 70 s, but Court & Spark was a commercial success. It sprawled singles like ",Help Me",, (which is my favorite one by her), ",Free Man In Paris",, and ",Court & Spark",. The musicians have alot of energy on this album. Joni s guitar hooks are improved, but it s not the best. I perfer her best are the...

1. Happy-Go-Lucky Local (aka Night Train) 2. C-Jam Blues 3. Georgia on My Mind 4. Bags Groove 5. Moten Swing 6. Easy Does It 7. Honeydripper 8. Things Ain t What They Used to Be 9. I Got It Bad (And That Ain t Good) 10. Band Call 11. Hymn to Freedom 12. Happy-Go-Lucky Local (aka Night Train) [Alternate Take][#] 13. Volare [#] 14. My Heart Belongs to Daddy [#] 15. Moten Swing [Rehearsal Take][#] 16. Now s the Time [#] 17. This Could Be the Start of Something [#]

This 1962 recording represents Oscar Peterson at his most commercially accommodating, yet his trio with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen never fails to swing. The program includes such familiar melodies as the title track (which began life as Duke Ellington s Happy Go Lucky Local), Georgia on My Mind, and The Honeydripper. With the notable exception of the gospel-like original Hymn to Freedom, most of the tracks clock in at around three minutes. This reissue contains several alternate takes that were wisely left off the original LP, including such unlikely jazz vehicles as Volare and My Heart Belongs to Daddy. --Rick Mitchell

#THE Oscar Peterson Proverbial Desert Island CD! (2004-06-03) Well, this is it! If I could only have ONE of the dozens of Oscar Peterson CDs to play on the proverbial desert island, THIS would be the one! Recorded in 1962. . . . . post-Herb Ellis (guitar) era, Ed Thigpen (drum) era. So much pleasure, of course, to be heard from BOTH eras!. . . . but this one tops em all for me. THE definitive versions (by any swinger!) of Georgia on My Mind, Moten Swing, Easy Does It, Things Ain t What They Used to Be, I Got It Bad (and That Ain t Good), and two I wasn t familiar with which I fel...

#VERY BAD!!!!!!!!! (2004-04-13) I have to say, I was very dissapointed with this album. Peterson, has not yet made an album that is up to the standard as THE WIGGLES!!!!!!!!!!!

#Best of the best (2004-02-08) Unlike many jazz piano lovers, I have never thought Oscar Peterson was showing off or playing too many notes, though I also love Count Basie, whose sparse playing goes in the opposite direction. This album is wonderfully appealing and, could be a great place to start with Oscar if you aren t yet acquainted with his music. I love every track [but only have the original CD], and appreciate the variety on the recording, from C Jam Blueswith its distinctive percussion and piano and double bass solos, to slow ballads like Hymn To Freedom and Things Ain t What T...

#Peterson s Best Trio (2004-01-10) Although Oscar Peterson has never failed to find the most astute accompanists, the trio of Peterson on piano, Ray Brown on double bass, and Ed Thigpen on drums rank supreme. A perfect balance of swing and bebop. The CD s standouts are the brief, but throbbing swing-cum-rag The Honeydripper and the rarely improvised (and previously unreleased) Cole Porter classic My Heart Belongs To Daddy which variates between a Bossa Nova and Swing arrangement. A must have for any Peterson fan!

#A Must Own for Any Jazz Collection (2003-06-14) I have been a jazz fan since i was a kid in the 70 s. One of the wonderful things about jazz music for me is finding out about artists like pianist Oscar Peterson. He is considered - by many fans and musicians alike - one of the finest players ever, with an amaaaazzzzing sense of time. Oscar s music is accessible and can be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys lively piano music with fun and interesting time signatures. This was my first purchase of his music, having heard him on jazz radio many times. In the trio (acoustic piano, bass, dru...

1. Urge for Going 2. Chelsea Morning 3. Big Yellow Taxi 4. Woodstock 5. Circle Game 6. Carey 7. California 8. You Turn Me on I m a Radio 9. Raised on Robbery 10. Help Me 11. Free Man in Paris 12. River 13. Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody 14. Come in from the Cold 15. Both Sides, Now

She has only had a few bona fide hits, but after almost 30 years, she s finally delivered a 15-song compilation of her signature songs that will be a CD point-of-departure for casual fans and newcomers well into the new millennium. The companion Misses volume is an intriguing curio that might rather more generously have been marketed as a bonus disc. --Jeff Bateman

#The Blonde In The Bleachers (2004-04-28) joni is the blonde in the bleachers to graham nash. . that interesting circle of talented artists that hung around laurel canyon. . . . sharing and inspiring the great american music that followed the Byrds breakthrough. . . joni was one of the matriarchs, along with cass elliot, of that important movement. . . its repeated, crosby stills and nash sang their first official harmonies together at joni s house. . . and joni could easily hang with the boys. . . she could write and chord with the best of them. . . buy this ",Hits", album to ...

#hippie flowerchild Joni Mitchell s Hits (2004-04-23) I love this album. It has many of her early and best songs. I listened to it constantly when I first got it. Several of the songs gave me just the most incredible inner spiritual experience of delight, that almost otherworldly feeling you get when you re deeply moved or stimulated by a work of art, be it a painting, a book, or a piece of music. If you get this ",Hits", album, don t lend it to a friend. I did, and never got it back :)David Rehakauthor of ",A Young Girl s Crimes",

#New Joni Fan (2004-01-18) Ok, so i wasn t around in the late-60 s and early-70 s when Joni Mitchell came onto the scene. So I obviously missed this music the first time around. I ve always been a fan of the singer songwriters of this era such as Carole King, Carly Simon, and Elton John, but seemed to overlook Joni Mitchell *big mistake. * I got this for Christmas and enjoy it very much. I m a teenager so I m not very knowledgable about this type of music, but I love Joni Mitchell s voice and songwriting style. True, she only had four top 40 hits, her biggest being the top 10 hit He...

#Roadmap to Joni Mitchell (2003-11-28) This, like many hits records, offers a decent sampling of what the artist, in this case, the amazing Joni Mitchell, has to offer. Notice I said a decent sampling. For all those out there who want to try Joni Mitchell s music, or just the genre in general- This is for you. Joni Mitchell is such an amazing artist, though- experimenting with severl entirely different sounds somehow without losing meaning or a musical identity- that one collection can never begin to cover her music. If you are already a fan, or own most of Joni Mitchell s music, I ...

#Incomplete, but good for casual fans (2003-11-16) This is a decent selection of Joni s best-known (not best) songs, but it s impossible to do her career justice on one CD. I own all of Joni s albums up until and including Mingus so there wasn t much reason to get this but I wanted to have Urge For Going on CD so, if that s you re only reason for getting it, make sure you find it cheap! Urge For Going is terrific though, classic Joni from her earlier period (my favourite). This song would have fitted nicely on Clouds and it is a nice addition to her catalogue. On another positiv...