So, Oscar Peterson Trio Plays The Cole Porter Songbook was the first jazz record I remember actually liking (loving really), and I believe it's singlehandedly responsible for me deciding to actually learn jazz and learn how to play the bass.

I played mediocre electric bass and claimed to like jazz but didn't actually, and I had an old Kay sitting in my closet. My parents had bought it for me to encourage an interest in jazz, but I only really wanted an upright bass because MCA had one. Turns out it was tough to play, it gave me blisters, and I didn't like practicing, so it sat around.

Then came this record, which I happened across at my local Goodwill. I had heard of Oscar Peterson, and of course knew Ray Brown from that SuperBass CD I was given a few years earlier. It was a cassette tape and it cost a dollar, so I gave it a chance.

I liked it, like, actually, and I listened to it a lot. The sense of swing, the sound of the bass, the feeling of the bass and drums playing together - that was it, man. I found a teacher and started practicing, and began my journey on the bass in earnest.

Since then I've put a fair amount of time into transcribing Ray, but for some reason I had never done a tune from this record. That changes now, with my transcription of Ray Brown on the Cole Porter gem "In The Still Of The Night."

This bassline is classic Ray, with the hardest swinging two feel, ultra-melodic walking, and a 2 1/2 octave diminished lick thrown in for good measure.