It’s Oscar week and we’re mixing things up with an all-Oscar Peterson post. One of his many talents was as an accompanist so we’re featuring Oscar with some of the greatest jazz singers of his time; make that all-time.

As to the song, it puts us back in torch song country. How Long Has This Been Going On?  was written by George and Ira Gershwin in 1927 for the Broadway musical, Funny Face.

Since everyone loved starting off with Louis Armstrong and Oscar Peterson last week, let’s do it again.

Oscar played piano on all of the Ella and Louis albums. He also cut a record with Ella after Louis’ passing:

In 1979, OP assembled an all-star quartet to back Sarah Vaughan on an album on which this week’s featured tune is the title track. I hope that wasn’t too many Ts for your taste.

Let’s set the Wayback Machine to 1958 and listen to the divine Dorothy Dandridge with the Oscar Peterson Trio:

What would the Friday Cocktail Hour be without a jazz instrumental version of the week’s song? This time, a certain Canadian pianist to whom I long ago pledged my musical troth:

We have some major lagniappe today. First, Oscar Peterson singing a song that poses a different question:

Yes, he sounded like Nat King Cole. That’s why he rarely sang. He didn’t want people to think he was ripping off his idol.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Oscar Peterson? Obviously, but what’s an OP post without my stock line about him?

The next bit of lagniappe has nothing to do with Oscar Peterson. It’s a song written by Paul Carrack and recorded  in 1975 by the band of his youth, Ace. The title is a variation on the Gershwins: How Long (Has This Been Going On.)

What’s not to love about a song title containing a parenthetical aside? Rumor has it that I’m quite fond of them myself.

That’s it for this almost all-Oscar Peterson post. There’s a certain irony in the timing: I kicked the Oscar watching habit last year and have no plan to relapse. I’ll leave that to Shapiro.

Instead, I’ll pour myself a drink. You should too. It’s what Oscar winners Bogie, Betty, and Frank would want. Bogart and Sinatra won acting awards, but Bacall received a special Oscar in 2010 and I wrote about it. Never argue with the notion that Lauren Bacall né Betty Persky was special.