This latest collaboration between Mack Avenue and Two Lions producer Kelly Peterson, OP’s widow, follows closely on from Con Alma – Live in Lugano, 1964 (reviewed most favourably in Jazzwise 292). Once again its provenance is via a live recording made 30 years after Lugano in Munich’s Philharmonie concert hall during the summer tour. Crucially, this marked OP’s return to performance barely a year after his debilitating stroke.

Canadian guitarist Lofsky was the quartet’s newest recruit, having only recently joined the established team of NHØP and Drew. If OP’s finger-speed and keyboard bravura are less evident than hitherto, Lofsky’s brilliance and NHØP’s guitar-like facility act as a counter-balance of virtuosity in these performances, even as Peterson remained determined to play as near to his best as possible.

At this stage, his set-list was pretty well established: five of his own pieces, one by NHØP, Duke’s ‘Satin Doll’ and a couple of standards. The album opens with Drew playing brushes, solo, before NHØP enters and Lofsky joins, setting the scene as OP appears onstage to the most thunderous applause and everything goes well from there. OP’s version of ‘There Will Never Be Another You’ is quite spare, percussive rather than florid, the solos by Lofsky and NHØP longer, the unscathed right-hand figures quite boppish in outline. His ‘The Gentle Waltz’ is more thoughtful but has lovely fluency.

‘Kelly’s Blues’ is stompy, almost clamorous, the silken touch of yesteryear replaced by heavier passages. ‘Love Ballade’, taken slow is exquisite and at 10 minutes plus, underlines the sense that there was to be no coasting, no easy options taken. The title track is similarly rewarding and swings, each man digging in as they do throughout. Far more than a tribute to a game survivor, this is music that successfully withstands the closest of scrutiny.