SKF NOTE: Many thanks to Wladi Plus for posting this clip of one of the great jazz trios, and certainly, the greatest of many great Oscar Peterson Trios. This 1961 clip is a lesson in how well Peterson, Ray Brown (bass), and Ed Thigpen (drums) played music as a team. It was Ray Brown, I think, who once said in an interview that this trio was unique for its song arrangements. The three men didn’t simply rely on play the head, blow on the tune, repeat the head, out. They worked at arranging songs.

The cameramen give us a good (but too short) up close view of Ed Thigpen — whose silver sparkle Ludwig drums remain a classic sound. No wasted motion, no hypertension, from any of these players.