On the Record: Oscar Peterson's "Nigerian Marketplace"

A peerless virtuoso whose soulful approach and technical facility easily places him among the greatest pianists in jazz history, Oscar Peterson was primarily known for leading a series of influential trios, including the famous drummer-less three-piece with bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Herb Ellis, and his prolific group with Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen whose 1959 series of Songbook albums for Verve are considered masterpieces of the piano trio format.

By the 1970s, the Ontario-born pianist was a veteran at the height of his powers, and he began a lengthy association with Norman Grantz’s newly formed Pablo label, whose other artists included regular Peterson collaborators Ella Fitzgerald and guitarist Joe Pass. It was during this period that he began working steadily with Pass and the remarkable Danish bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pederson, eventually adding British drummer Martin Drew to form a working quartet in 1974.

At the end of the decade, Peterson began work on a large-scale suite he called AFRICA that was inspired by the imprisonment of South African icon Nelson Mandela – a piece that was sadly never completed or performed in its entirety during his lifetime. Though a few parts of the suite would appear on small group recordings over the 1980s, the first to be immortalized on vinyl was the title composition of his live Pablo session Nigerian Marketplace, recorded with Pederson and drummer Terry Clarke at Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival in July of 1981.

Though the set features masterful takes on the standards “Misty,” “Nancy (With the Laughing Face),” and Charlie Parker’s “Au Privave,” the leadoff “Nigerian Marketplace” is clearly the centerpiece of the performance, giving Pederson’s razor-sharp bass the signature opening melodic statement over a bed of soft, twinkling piano chords before the trio relentlessly builds into a joyous, bluesy stomp and back over its eight minute duration.

In his liner notes for the original release, Grantz wrote:

“For the past two years Oscar Peterson has, between personal appearances, been composing a major work titled “AFRICA.” What began as an individual song tribute to the imprisoned South African black Nationalist leader, Nelson Mandela – and his wife, Winnie – has, inevitably, I suppose, grown into a large-scale epic. Peterson called the first theme, in the as yet uncompleted suite, “Nigerian Marketplace.” Last summer, July 1981, he appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pederson on bass and Terry Clarke on drums and as a surprise included this composition in his program. The audience was enthralled by its haunting melodic line, and it was a roaring success.

Incidentally, Herbie Hancock appeared on the same evening’s program, and I suspect that the competitive Peterson, inspired by the appreciative fellow pianist (whom he reciprocally likes), gave an altogether magnificent performance.

In releasing this album of the concert, I prevailed upon Peterson to allow the inclusion of “Nigerian Marketplace," not only as a preview of the entire suite but as a unique display in its own right.”

The U.S. premiere of Oscar Peterson’s The AFRICA Suite is at Davies Symphony Hall on 6/12, featuring the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with Benny Green, Robert Hurst, Kenny Barron, Gerald Clayton, Russell Malone, and more. Tickets and more information are available here.