the oscar peterson trio`s take on the leonard bernstein score from the broadway show, recorded jan 24&25, 1962.
my piano teacher in college had this stunning black and white photo of herself, arm in arm with oscar peterson, next to the piano in her studio. apparently they were buddies back when they were my age. i saw it every week as i sat at that piano for two whole years and it imprinted deeply on me as a very impressionable young person because i was like super impressed. (i mean, at a time when all of my energy was going into not being impressed by anything) apparently she had convinced him to come and play a collegium at my school some years before i attended. (how did i miss that!) perhaps as a result of that and oscar peterson`s electric wrists that move faster than my brain, this is my feel-good record and it probably gets the most play out of my whole collection. whenever i`m about to do something like weave or knit or cook and i don`t have an album in mind, i`ll put this on. its familiarity soothes me and makes any day better. hope you`re having a good one! if not, give west side story a spin!
