''Exclusively for My Friends'' is a series of originally six albums for the MPS label by

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

. The album tracks were recorded live by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer for MPS on the occasion of private concerts with a small audience in his home studio. The albums have been collected in different box sets over the years.

Recording and release

Recording took place in six separate sessions between 1963 and 1968 in different trio settings as well as with Peterson playing solo. The recordings include performances with his most well-known trio consisting of double bassist Ray Brown and drummer

Ed Thigpen Edmund Leonard Thigpen (December 28, 1930 – January 13, 2010) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965. Thigpen also performed with the Billy Taylor trio from 1956 to 1959. Biography ...

and also teams him with bassist Sam Jones and drummers

Louis Hayes Louis Hayes (born May 31, 1937) is an American jazz drummer and band leader. He was with McCoy Tyner's trio for more than three years. Since 1989 he has led his own band, and together with Vincent Herring formed the Cannonball Legacy Band. He i ...

or Bobby Durham. While around 60 tracks were recorded, only 37 were initially released in five trio albums and one solo album, the first in Peterson's career. The titles on each album were often selected from different recording sessions. Peterson was personally involved in selecting and editing the tapes. Due to contractual reasons, the albums were not released before 1968. In 1992, the series was re-released as a four CD box set by MPS (and by

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...

in the US) which included all recordings of the six original albums. In 1995, the release of the compilation '' Exclusively for My Friends: The Lost Tapes'' added twelve previously unreleased tracks to the collection. The constituent albums were also available as individual CDs. MPS released remastered versions of the original albums as a six LP box set in 2014. One year later, an eight CD box set followed that collected the six albums plus two volumes of ''Lost Tapes'', adding another ten tracks to the overall release group which were personally selected by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer for release shortly before his death in 2004. ''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by ...

'' includes the albums in its "Core Collection".

Original album series

*''

Action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

'' (Vol. 1) *'' Girl Talk'' (Vol. 2) *''

The Way I Really Play ''The Way I Really Play'' (also released as ''The Great Oscar Peterson on Prestige!'') is a 1968 album by jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. It is the third part of Peterson's ''Exclusively for My Friends'' series. Reception Writing for AllMusic, criti ...

'' (Vol. 3) *'' My Favorite Instrument'' (Vol. 4) solo piano *''

Mellow Mood ''Mellow Mood'' is an album by jazz pianist Oscar Peterson and his trio, released in 1968 (see 1968 in music). The session was recorded in Germany at the private studio of :de:Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer, Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer and released on the ...

'' (Vol. 5) *''

Travelin' On ''Travelin' On'' is an album by the jazz pianist Oscar Peterson and his trio, released in 1968. It was recorded during the same sessions as '' Mellow Mood''. It was the sixth part of Peterson's '' Exclusively for My Friends'' series. Music The ...

'' (Vol. 6)

The Lost Tapes

*'' Exclusively for My Friends: The Lost Tapes'' (1995)

Track listings

For the original track listings see the individual album articles above.

Four CD Box (1992)

CDs 1-3 collect Vol. 1-4 and 6 mostly in the original running order, while CD 4 matches Vol. 4, which contains the solo recordings.

Eight CD Box Set (2015)

Track listings for CDs 1-7 like the original releases (see above).

Personnel

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

* Ray Brown -

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Sam Jones - double bass *

- drums * Bobby Durham - drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Exclusively For My Friends 1992 compilation albums Oscar Peterson compilation albums MPS Records compilation albums