Oscar Peterson A Time for Love: The Oscar Peterson Quartet - Live in Helsinki, 1987 3LP

Michael Fremer Rated 9/10 Music, 9/10 Sonics!

In 1987, Oscar Peterson led his quartet — featuring Joe Pass, Dave Young and Martin Drew — through the final engagement of their 14-concert European fall tour at Helsinki's famed Kulttuuritalo. A Time for Love captures Peterson's desire to focus on performing original compositions alongside timeless classics at the pinnacle of the group's creative stride.

Oscar Peterson was an 8x Grammy® Award-winner whose other accolades included a Lifetime Achievement Award, Officer in the Order of Canada, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), BBC Radio Lifetime Achievement Award, National Order of Quebec, and a statue unveiled in Ottawa by Queen Elizabeth II (2010).

Nicknamed the "Maharaja (great ruler) of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, Peterson performed with Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, Sarah Vaughan, and Freddie Hubbard, among other jazz legends, throughout his lifetime.

Oscar the entertainer, Oscar the speed demon, Oscar the classicist, Oscar the sensitive listener, Oscar the composer, Oscar the nimble. All the Oscars you know and love were onstage in Helsinki's Kulttuuritalo concert hall, November 17th, 1987 along with Joe Pass, Dave Young and Martin Drew for an evening of great entertainment and music making recorded by the Finnish Broadcasting Company... The sound is spectacular: dynamic, timbrally honest with deep bass and honest extension on top. It's closely miked with just a kiss of hall sound. Even the audience applause is extremely well recorded. A guaranteed rousing evening musically and sonically.

While the title of this album is A Time For Love, a more apt heading might be A Time To Burn because that's exactly what Peterson and his quartet do throughout this 12-tune blast of joy.

This is simply classic jazz at its finest – an over-the-top, flawless performance.