Noah Peterson is a hard working Pacific Northwest jazz musician who’s been around, seemingly, forever. I’m going to talk about two releases in this posting; “Duos and Trios” and “Live at Marylhurst Drive”. “Duos and Trios” came together over a period of time, with Peterson carefully selecting the people he was going to work with. The music is partly straight ahead and partly improvisation. I’m not all that crazy about Jazz improvisation. As illustrated by a lot of musicians, “improv” is a politically correct term for “self-indulgent and directionless”. Fortunately, Peterson and his fellow artists on “Duos” aren’t especially self-indulgent. Peterson (soprano and alto sax) has managed to develop a laid back style in his playing but you never get the impression that it’s lazy; there’s a strong, hard drive to all these pieces, whether he’s soloing or allowing one of the other musicians to step to the fore. Jay Stapleton, on guitar, is a perfect foil to Peterson’s sax and the two swap solos with the ease of true Jazz masters. It’s a collaboration where neither tries to outshine the other. This music isn’t necessarily acoustic wallpaper music; it clamors for attention without being really obnoxious about it. You would put this on your stereo after dinner so your friends good appreciate your good taste and connoisseurship of the Jazz idiom. There are a few clangers when it comes to the set list. “Surrey With The Fringe On Top” should have been put out to pasture years ago. Ugly song. No one can make this sound good. “Sugar Mountain” is a Neil Young song I’ve never liked. I don’t think even Neil sings it any more. I can’t forgive anyone for playing “American the Beautiful”, a sappy construct from the same people who bring you bathroom sanitizer jingles. The only rendition I enjoyed is when George Carlin used to sing it: “Oh beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain. For strip-mined mountains majesty, beside the asphalt plain….”. “Live at Marylhurst Drive” is more like an EP and just under 30 minutes in playing time. The songs were written or arranged for a special soiree. Peterson plays with a different group of musicians on this release. This is really Peterson’s show. His signature laid back sax style is still in evidence and the supporting guitarist and bass players take more of a backseat that in the previous CD. In many ways, I like this CD more than “Duos”. The sax phrasing is excellent. It feels more easy and relaxed than “Duos”, maybe because there’s a live audience in an informal setting. Peterson has chosen some excellent songs and plays them with sophisticated improvisation. Recommendation: Buy ‘em both but if you only have enough money for one, opt for the live release.