The complete LP + bonus track – limited edition 180g audiophile vinyl pressing.This edition of the Norman Granz produced Songbooks series with Oscar Peterson presents the complete original album ‘Oscar Peterson Plays The Richard Rogers Songbook’ (Verve (MG V-2057, by the Oscar Peterson trio with Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums.“In the 1950s and early ’60s, producer Norman Granz perfected the songbook approach to album production by having vocalist Ella interpret large segments of the standard jazz repertoire.In a frankly stated effort to expand the listening audience for this great body of work, Granz also asked Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson to churn out numerous instrumental songbook albums under his own name with various combos.By the end of the decade, these included Oscar’s newly reconfigured trio with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen.Like its companion albums, Peterson’s Richard Rodgers Song Book was never intended as a set of exercises in soul-searching profundity.Instead, what you get are simple, straightforward, well-played appreciations of great American songwriting.Most of the melodies on this album resulted from Rogers’ extraordinary collaborative relationship with lyricist Lorenz Hart, and a couple of Oscar Hammerstein numbers were thrown in as well.Those who enjoy this pleasant offering may wish to investigate Peterson’s songbook salutes to Dule Ellington, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, and numerous others.” – **** AllMusic
