OP vs. BE

ver since jazz piano trios became a thing, there have traditionally been two principal ways of setting up the piano, bass, and drums on stage. The formation used by Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, and others—often from an earlier era—has the pianist positioned at a 45-degree angle to the stage, with his/her back to the audience the rest of the band. The drummer is in the middle, seated slightly behind the pianist, with the bassist standing stage right. This arrangement is generally called the Oscar Peterson or OP setup. The more commonly used approach today puts the pianist stage