For those fortunate enough to hear and own the immaculately produced Germany/Black Forest based MPS recordings, distributed as imported pristine virgin vinyl LPs that were pressed in the '70s, you already know the quality of this four-CD set of
George Shearing's trio. With the peerless Dane
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Ireland's genius guitarist
Louis Stewart, they can hardly do anything wrong musically. The first three CDs have
Shearing playing standards, occasionally contemporizing his repertoire on
Chick Corea's "Windows" and "500 Miles High," doing
NHØP's "Cowboy Santa" and "My Little Anna," and offering two of his own originals, "The Fourth Deuce" and "G & G." The final CD has the threesome accompanied by strings, arranged and conducted by the brilliant
Robert Farnon, and while a bit syrupy, lend pleasant late-night contrast at the end of a long day to the proceedings. This is a welcome addition to
Shearing's collections discography, and a reminder of how good, in a short time period, MPS and producer
Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer were. ~ Michael G. Nastos