JAZZ REVIEW : PETERSON’S CLOSE TO PERFECTION

Oscar Peterson, who appeared Saturday at the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, is a one-man definition of jazz. As much as any living artist on any instrument, he symbolizes the values that long ago established this music as the unique improvisatory, rhythmically created art form it has been from the start.

Like Art Tatum, with whom he was so often compared in his early years, Peterson can take a long familiar pop song or jazz standard and invest it with a fresh and totally personal character. This was apparent from the opening strains of “The More I See You,” a 1945 movie song that would have no particular character or value in lesser hands.

Typically, he will play an opening chorus out of tempo, then move into a steady beat such as the contagious, loping moderato he brought to “Make Someone Happy.” At times his ornamentations became excessive: During “Lush Life,” the rococo interstices between phrases seemed almost longer than the melody itself.

After a few solo numbers Peterson introduced his current bassist, a fellow Toronto musician named David Young, whose sound is clear and whose rhythmic support was strong, though his solos seldom achieved the inventive spirit of some of his predecessors.

Peterson’s talent as a composer was well represented. His “Love Ballade” is a work of sheer classical beauty. “Gentle Waltz” lived up to its title, and “Sushi” swung lightly from introduction to coda.

After intermission a surprise materialized in the person of Harry (Sweets) Edison. The veteran trumpeter, substituting for Joe Pass (the guitarist is ill in Europe), had the effect of steering Peterson into a more straight ahead swinging groove. Because they had not rehearsed, they simply played standards, with no tempo changes and none of the complexity that had occasionally marked the first hour.

Edison too epitomizes jazz in all its innovative splendor. Playing muted more often than open horn, he brought to “Wave” and “Mean to Me” the mixture of down home cooking and humor (often involving quotes from unlikely sources) that has long been his trademark.

The audience responded with an ovation so powerful that after the trio had left the stage Peterson, reappeared to seal off the show with a wistful unaccompanied “Body and Soul.” It was the perfect wind down to an evening not too far short of overall perfection.