Tenderly

AMG Review of Tenderly

Scott Yanow
All Music Guide

Although it is not obvious looking at this obscure (and long out of print) LP, this album has pianist Oscar Peterson's very first American recordings. Eight of the selections match Peterson on duets with bassist Ray Brown (the famous Oscar Peterson Trio was still over a year away), while four are taken from a 14-song session that found bassist Major Holley joining Peterson. This version of "Tenderly" was a big hit at the time and put the virtuoso pianist on the map, but Peterson was heading for stardom anyway. Other selections on the historic if surprisingly little-known album include "Little White Lies," "They Didn't Believe Me," and Peterson's basic originals "Nameless" and "Debut." Hopefully, Polygram will bring back this historic music on CD someday.