Author Gene Lees named his biography of Oscar Peterson The Will To Swing. Lees could not have chosen a better title, as one of the most outstanding aspects of Oscar Peterson's work is his unfailing commitment to swinging. Peterson's dexterity and swing have its foundations in deep knowledge and great skill. Oscar's virtuosity makes him stand apart from the large majority of jazz pianists, who obtain their results in spite of generally quite uneven keyboard accomplishment. Peterson's virtuosity, his awesome technical skills combined with his basic rhythmic power and his inexhaustible stamina made him into the most frequently recorded and most popular jazz pianist of the second half of the twentieth century. Peterson’s formative years are covered on this 51 track 2 CD set.

CD 1:
[1] I GOT RHYTHM (Gershwin, Gershwin) 1945
[2] LOUISE (Robin, Whiting) 1945
[3] MY BLUE HEAVEN (Whiting, Donaldson) 1945
[4] THE SHEIK OF ARABY (Smith, Wheeler, Snyder) 1945
[5] FLYING HOME (Goodman, Hampton) 1945
[6] THE C JAM BLUES (Ellington) 1945
[7] IF I COULD BE WITH YOU ONE HOUR TONIGHT (Johnson, Henry, Creamer) 1945
[8] HUMORESQUE (Dvorak) 1945
[9] BLUE MOON (Rodgers, Hart) 1946
[10] IN A LITTLE SPANISH TOWN (Lewis, Young, Wayne) 1946
[11] TIME ON MY HANDS (Adamson, Gordon, Youmans) 1946
[12] CHINA BOY (Winfree, Boutelje) 1946
[13] RUNNIN’ WILD (Wood, Grey, Gibbs) 1946
[14] SWEET LORRAINE (Parish, Burwell) 1946
[15] THE HONEYDRIPPER (Liggins) 1946
[16] EAST OF THE SUN (Bowman) 1946
[17] INDIANA (McDonald, Hanley) 1947
[18] MARGIE (Davis, Conrad) 1947
[19] I SURRENDER DEAR (Clifford, Barris) 1947
[20] I DON’T STAND A GHOST OF A CHANCE WITH YOU (Crosby, Washington, Young) 1947
[21] OSCAR’S BOOGIE (Peterson) 1948
[22] SMILES (Callaghan, Roberts) 1948
[23] STAIRWAY TO THE STARS (Parish, Malneck, Signorelli) 1948
[24] POOR BUTTERFLY (Golden, Hubbell) 1948
[25] OO-BOP SH’BAM (Gillespie, Fuller, Roberts) 1949
[26] SWEET GEORGIA BROWN (Bernie, Pinkard) 1949

CD 2:
[1] SLEEPY TIME GAL (Alden, Egan, Whitting, Dorenzo) 1949
[2] ROCKIN’ IN RHYTHM (Ellington, Carney, Mills) 1949
[3] FINE AND DANDY (James, Swift) 1949
[4] MY HEART STOOD STILL (Rodgers, Hart) 194
[5] SOMEBODY LOVES ME (Gershwin, McDonald, De Sylva) 1949
[6] AT SUNDOWN (Donaldson) 1949
[7] SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES (Harbach, Kern) 1950
[8] DEEP PURPLE (Parish, De Rose) 1950
[9] ROBBINS’ NEST (Thompson, Jacquet) 1950
[10] I’LL REMEMBER APRIL (Raye, De Paul, Johnson) 1950
[11] LOVER (Rodgers, Hart) 1950
[12] EXACTLY LIKE YOU (Fields, McHugh) 1950
[13] EASY TO LOVE (Porter) 1950
[14] TAKIN’ A CHANCE ON LOVE (Duke, Fetter, Latouche) 1950
[15] SQUATTY ROO (Hodges) 1950
[16] AFTER ALL (Strayhorn) 1950
[17] CARAVAN (Ellington, Tizol, Mills) 1950
[18] SUMMER NOCTURNE (Landes) 1950
[19] SALUTE TO GARNER (Peterson) 1950
[20] I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU (Porter) 1950
[21] WHAT’S NEW (Burke, Haggart) 1950
[22] DARK EYES (trad) 1950
[23] WHAT IS IT? (Peterson) 1950
[24] THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT (Fields, Kern) 1950 25 MINOR BLUES (Peterson) 1950

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