''My Favorite Instrument'' (also released as ''Soul-O!'') is a 1968 album by

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, ...

. It was his first solo piano release.

Reception

Writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, critic

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

wrote "A prelude to his outstanding Pablo recordings, My Favorite Instrument is one of Peterson's top albums of the 1960s." This album was the fourth part of Peterson's Exclusively for My Friends series on MPS. ''

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 ...

'' included the album in its suggested "Core Collection".

Track listing

# " Someone to Watch over Me" (

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

) – 4:18 # " Perdido" (

Ervin Drake Ervin Drake (born Ervin Maurice Druckman; April 3, 1919 – January 15, 2015) was an American songwriter whose works include such American Songbook standards as "I Believe (1953 song), I Believe" and "It Was a Very Good Year". He wrote in a variet ...

, Hans Jan Lengsfelder,

Juan Tizol Juan Tizol Martínez (22 January 1900 – 23 April 1984) was a Puerto Rican jazz trombonist and composer. He is best known as a member of Duke Ellington's big band, and as the writer of the jazz standards " Caravan", "Pyramid", and " Perdid ...

) – 6:17 # " Body and Soul" (

Frank Eyton Frank Eyton (30 August 1894 – 11 November 1962) was an English popular music lyricist best known for co-writing the lyrics of Johnny Green's " Body and Soul" (1930) with Edward Heyman and Robert Sour. Frank Eyton biographyat Allmusic - retrieved ...

Johnny Green John Waldo Green (October 10, 1908 – May 15, 1989) was an American songwriter, composer, musical arranger, conductor and pianist. He was given the nickname "Beulah" by colleague Conrad Salinger. His most famous song was one of his earli ...

Edward Heyman Edward Heyman (March 14, 1907October 16, 1981) was an American lyricist and producer, best known for his lyrics to " Body and Soul," "When I Fall in Love," and " For Sentimental Reasons." He also contributed to a number of songs for films. Biogr ...

Robert Sour The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

) – 4:36 # "

Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me) "Who Can I Turn To?" (alternatively titled "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)") is a song written by English lyricists Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley and first published in 1964. Background The song was introduced in the musical ' ...

" (

Leslie Bricusse Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films ''Do ...

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leading ...

) – 5:02 # "

Bye Bye Blackbird "Bye Bye Blackbird" is a song published in 1926 by Jerome H. Remick and written by composer Ray Henderson and lyricist Mort Dixon. It is considered a popular standard and was first recorded by Sam Lanin's Dance Orchestra in March 1926. Song in ...

" (

Mort Dixon Mort Dixon (March 20, 1892 – March 23, 1956) was an American lyricist. Biography Born in New York City, United States, Dixon began writing songs in the early 1920s, and was active into the 1930s. He achieved success with his first published ef ...

Ray Henderson Ray Henderson (born Raymond Brost; December 1, 1896 – December 31, 1970) was an American songwriter. Early life Born in Buffalo, New York, United States, Henderson moved to New York City and became a popular composer in Tin Pan Alley. He was o ...

) – 4:56 # "

I Should Care "I Should Care" is a popular song with music by Axel Stordahl and Paul Weston and lyrics by Sammy Cahn, published in 1944. Cahn said that the title came to him by the time they played the first 4 bars. It first appeared in the MGM film '' Thrill ...

" (

Sammy Cahn Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premier ...

Axel Stordahl Axel Stordahl (August 8, 1913 – August 30, 1963) was an American arranger who was active from the late 1930s through the 1950s. He is perhaps best known for his work with Frank Sinatra in the 1940s at Columbia Records. With his sophisticat ...

Paul Weston Paul Weston (born Paul Wetstein; March 12, 1912 – September 20, 1996) was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor who worked in music and television from the 1930s to the 1970s, pioneering mood music and becoming known as "the F ...

) – 4:48 # "

Lulu's Back In Town "Lulu's Back in Town" is a popular song and jazz standard written in 1935 by Al Dubin (words) and Harry Warren (music). First performances "Lulu's Back in Town" was performed in the 1935 film ''Broadway Gondolier'', directed by Lloyd Bacon, wh ...

" (

Al Dubin Alexander Dubin (June 10, 1891 – February 11, 1945) was an American lyricist. He is best known for his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren. Life Al Dubin came from a Russian Jewish family that emigrated to the United States from Swi ...

Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...

) – 2:10 # " Little Girl Blue" (

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Both ...

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...

) – 6:07 # "

Take the "A" Train "Take the 'A' Train" is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn that was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra. History The use of the Strayhorn composition as the signature tune was made necessary by a ruling in 1940 by the American ...

" (

Billy Strayhorn William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take ...

) – 2:39

Personnel

Performance

– piano

Production

* Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer - music production * Gene Lees - liner notes * Hans B. Pfitzer - design * Sepp Werkmeister - photography

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1968 albums Oscar Peterson albums MPS Records albums Verve Records albums Prestige Records albums Instrumental albums