Night Train is a jazz album by the Oscar Peterson Trio, released in 1962 by Verve Records. It was one of Petersons most commercially successful recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz included it in its core collection, stating that "its one of the best long-players of the period" and that Petersons playing is "tight and uncharacteristically emotional".
Album producer Norman Granz had sold Verve, but remained Petersons manager, so supervised the Night Train recording session. The brief duration of many of the tracks has been attributed to a desire to have them played on commercial radio, which tended to be reluctant to play anything that was longer than a few minutes. Thigpens rivet cymbal, recorded at very close range, is prominent on all issues of the album.
Verves Master Edition of the Oscar Peterson Trio date released as Night Train includes stately covers of blues and R&B standards like "The Honeydripper," "C-Jam Blues," "Georgia on My Mind," "Bags Groove," "Moten Swing," and "Things Aint What They Used to Be." Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen provide tight accompaniment, and there are six previously unavailable tracks recorded the same day, including "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" and "Volare," as well as alternate takes of "Happy-Go-Lucky Local" and "Moten Swing." --John Bush
Personnel:
Oscar Peterson - piano
Ray Brown - double bass
Ed Thigpen - drums
Tracklist:
1. Night Train
2. C Jam Blues
3. Georgia On My Mind
4. Bags Groove
5. Moten Swing
6. Easy Does It
7. Honey Dripper
8. Things Aint What They Used To Be
9. I Got It Bad and That Aint Good
10. Band Call
11. Hymn To Freedom