When they first met up for a full album in 1974, the two-piano team of
Count Basie and
Oscar Peterson must have seemed like an unlikely matchup. After all,
Peterson is known for filling up his rapid solos with virtuosic passages while
Basie is the master of the "less-is-more" approach, making every note count. But because
Peterson has such high respect for
Basie, he showed great self-restraint and left room for
Basie's percussive solos.
Night Rider, like their two previous joint albums, emphasizes the similarities rather than the differences in these two masters' styles. ~ Scott Yanow