by Ken DrydenOscar Peterson augmented his regular working trio of the time (bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes) with Henley Gibson on congas, Marshall Thompson on timbales, and Harold Jones as an added percussionist for this release, which focuses mostly on the music of Brazilian composers (so the title Soul Espanl is a bit misleading). With the surge of interest in bossa nova and samba, Peterson's interpretations of songs like Manha de Carnaval, How Insensitive, Meditation, and Samba de Orfeo have stood up very well against similar jazz recordings of the mid-'60s. Peterson's Soulville Samba has a gospel flavor, while his Sensitive Samba is more laid-back; Vincent Youmans' decades-old Carioca also fit in nicely. This is an enjoyable, if not essential, part of Oscar Peterson's considerable discography. The one mystery is why the credits and liner notes couldn't have been reproduced on a larger insert in order for them to be readable; this is one major drawback in shrinking the original LP jacket to CD size.