The Oscar Peterson Trio’s Night Train was released in December of 1962 by Verve Records. In the midst of an already well-established career, the release arrived at an apex of Oscar and his Trio’s creativity and cohesion. Rather than pushing them towards avant-garde elements, or tempting them towards a potentially over-the-top and less listenable set of tracks, the freedom of this creative bond paved the way for a thematically strong and thoroughly tasteful album.
As the album begins, “Night Train” (written by Duke Ellington) is a confident stroll through a traveling train at midnight: most are asleep, but some are reading; three aisles down and to the right a man is turned halfway towards his window with one eye on the train and one eye at the passing trees, sipping a coffee and smoking a cigarette. The album brings you to another era of music, steadily active and completely immersive, drawing the listener into its context within seconds of the opening track. A “C-Jam Blues” really seals the album’s atmosphere: Oscar’s virtuosity and careful but lithe touch on the piano, in conjunction with the spirit of the jam, gives much breath to the first half of the album as it builds to the slow and moving standard “Georgia on My Mind”. A suspicious “Bag’s Groove” and surreptitious “Moten Swing” brilliantly rein in the mood, preceding more melancholy expression such as “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be”, which journeys off the metaphorical train and settles in a metaphorical hazy room, a scotch resting on the piano as the keys mourn events past. The album ends with a breakdown of “Night Train”, almost an exit scene for the proverbial character who’s led us through the musical depths of the album. As the curtain draws, the listening experience feels completed, come full circle, cradling you into the silence as you slowly detach from the context and move towards reflection.
This album drew me in not only because of the individual tunes or the harmonically rich and technically proficient soloing, but because of the structural elements of the entire collaboration of the tunes. A well-structured album is like a well-built house — there is a perfect balance of structurally necessary foundation and extravagant but not superfluous ornamentation and design. With a strong backbone must come a well-fit aesthetic. Internal navigation of the house cannot be too difficult for those who enter, but a component of mystery and discovery should be retained. Night Train is the apotheosis of this balance, displaying garnished, well-polished jazz tunes in a relatable context.
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