Buddy De Franco

The six selections on this album feature the brilliant clarinetist Buddy DeFranco with the Oscar Peterson Quartet (Peterson’s trio plus drummer Louie Bellson).

“While all the tunes are standards,” wrote Scott Yanow for AllMusic, “DeFranco and Peterson produce plenty of fireworks with the majority of the numbers being taken up-tempo. DeFranco sounds flawless on clarinet, making it sound so easy to play lightning-fast runs; few other clarinetists have ever come close.”

DeFranco and Peterson played and recorded many times together as they were both under contract with Norman Granz. However, this marks the first of just three studio albums presenting them as coleaders. Their first LP would be followed by their version of The George Gershwin Songbook (recorded in December of 1954 and showcasing them with a big band conducted by Russell Garcia), and, many years later, the Pablo album Hark (taped in 1985 and featuring Joe Pass on guitar, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and Martin Drew on drums).