The first six selections on this CD are from a long-out-of-print LP featuring the brilliant clarinetist {|Buddy DeFranco|} with the {|Oscar Peterson Quartet|} ({|Peterson|}'s trio plus drummer {|Louie Bellson|}). While the six selections are all {|st... Read more

The first six selections on this CD are from a long-out-of-print LP featuring the brilliant clarinetist {|Buddy DeFranco|} with the {|Oscar Peterson Quartet|} ({|Peterson|}'s trio plus drummer {|Louie Bellson|}). While the six selections are all {|standards|}, {|DeFranco|} and {|Peterson|} produce plenty of fireworks with the majority of the numbers being taken up-tempo. {|DeFranco|} sounds flawless on clarinet, making it sound so easy to play lightning-fast runs; few other clarinetists have ever come close. The final selection, a very long and extremely up-tempo version of {|Lullaby in Rhythm,|} was released domestically in {|The Complete Norman Granz Jam Sessions|}. It has the same five musicians plus trombonist {|Bill Harris|}, {|Flip Phillips|} on tenor and both {|Roy Eldridge|} and {|Dizzy Gillespie|} on trumpets. {|Peterson|} really romps through his four-minute opening solo and surprisingly, {|Harris|} has no difficulty with the ridiculous tempo, nor does {|Phillips|}. The two trumpeters both struggle a bit (particularly {|Eldridge|}) before the song finally ends at over 23-and-a-half minutes. While that jam is available elsewhere, it is fun to hear, and the rest of this CD both borders on the classic and was formerly rare. Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow Less