Eximious (egzi•mias, a. Now rare.): select, choice, excellent, distinguished, eminent. The Oxford English Dictionary's definition of "eximious" perfectly describes this 1982 session that put the master guitarist Joe Pass into a studio with Oscar Peterson's bassist and drummer of the time. Accustomed to working often as a solo artist, Pass was nonethless one of the greatest of all jazzmen in the give-and-take of trio and quartet playing. To the power and sensitivity of Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Martin Drew's accompaniment, his solos here constitute some of his finest playing of the Eighties. He does not entirely neglect his love for the high-wire challenges of unaccompanied improvisation; the CD includes a solo version of "We'll Be Together Again." Like the word "eximious," Pass's kind of artistry is "Now rare."

with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Martin Drew