This is another stunning Peterson album. As the title indicates it was recorded in Russia in 1974 and the playing is great. As Benny Green says in the sleeve notes it would be fascinating to know whether the Russian audience could pick up on the little quotes that Oscar puts in his solos. Its a mixture of solo, duo and trio tracks with Neils Pederson on bass and Jake Hanna on drums. Starting out with solo Piano, Peterson plays a number of stunning solo interpretations of which perhaps the best are 'I Concentrate On You' and his own composition 'Place St. Henri'. This last track has some of phenomenal stride playing at amazing speed. Then Neils Pederson joins him and the remainder of disc 1 is Bass and Piano. Disc 2 starts with a superb trio version of 'Take the A Train'. There are multiple highlights on disc 2, including a great version of 'Just Friends' and perhaps best of all 'Hallelujah Time' (mis-titled on the disc as 'Hallelujah Trail'). Some really fast Boogie Woogie is in this tune (which Oscar was specialist at early in career) leading to a classic down-home blues finish.
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