Oscar Peterson

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Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer.

Duke Ellington called him the "Maharaja of the keyboard," but "O.P." His coworkers.

He has sold more than 200 albums, received eight Grammy Awards, and received numerous other accolades and accolades.

He is known as one of the top jazz pianists in the country, and he has appeared in thousands of concerts around the world in a career spanning more than 60 years.

Early years

Peterson was born in Montreal, Quebec, to immigrants from the West Indies (Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the British Virgin Islands); his father, Daniel, worked as a porter for Canadian Pacific Railway; and his uncle, Kathleen, taught himself to play the organ, trumpet, and piano. Peterson grew up in Montreal's Little Burgundy neighborhood. It was in this predominantly black neighborhood that he first encountered jazz music. Peterson began honing his trumpet and piano skills at age five, but a bout of tuberculosis when he was seven stopped him from playing the trumpet again, so he turned his attention to the piano. His father was one of his first music teachers, and his sister Daisy taught him classical piano. Peterson was adamant in his attempts to perform scales and classical studies.

Peterson began studying with Hungarian-born pianist Paul de Marky, a pupil of István Thomán, so his early training was mainly focused on classical piano. But he was captivated by classic jazz and boogie-woogie and learned several ragtime pieces. He was known as "the Brown Bomber of Boogie-Woogie."

Peterson played piano with a degree of defiance that befuddled professional musicians at the age of nine. For many years, his piano lessons spanned four to six hours of daily exercise. He did not have to miss one or two hours a day in his later years. He was crowned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1940, at fourteen years old, to the national music competition. He dropped out of the High School of Montreal, where he appeared in a band with Maynard Ferguson. He played on a weekly radio show and appeared in hotels and music halls, and has performed in hotels and concert halls. He was a member of the Johnny Holmes Orchestra in his youth. He worked in a trio and recorded for Victor Records from 1945 to 1949. Nat King Cole and Teddy Wilson were among his most popular boogie-woogie and swing swing fans. By the time he was in his twenties, he had a reputation as a technically gifted and melodically astute pianist.

Norman Granz heard a radio program broadcasting from a local club during a 2021 documentary Oscar Peterson: Black + White. He was so impressed that he begged him to drive him to the club so he could meet the pianist. Granz had seen Peterson before this but was disappointed. He introduced Peterson at a Jazz at the Carnegie Hall in 1949. He was Peterson's boss for the majority of his career. This was more than a managerial friendship; Peterson praised Granz for standing up for him and other black jazz performers in the segregationist south US of the 1950s and 1960s. Peterson explains in the documentary film "Music in the Key of Oscar" how Granz met with a gun-toting Southern policeman who wanted to discourage the trio from using "whites-only" taxis.

Peterson performed in a duo with double bassist Ray Brown in 1950. Barney Kessel, a guitarist, was added two years ago. After Kessel became weary of touring, Herb Ellis stepped in. From 1953 to 1958, the trio performed with Jazz at the Philharmonic often.

Peterson has performed in duos with Sam Jones, Niels-Henning, Joe Pass, Irving Ashby, Count Basie, and Herbie Hancock.

Brown and Ellis regarded them as "the most stimulating" and productive setting for public performances and studio recordings, according to him. He first appeared with Brown and drummer Charlie Smith as the Oscar Peterson Trio in the early 1950s. Smith was replaced shortly afterward by guitarist Irving Ashby, who had been a member of the Nat King Cole Trio. Ashby, a swing guitarist, was soon replaced by Kessel. On the Town with the Oscar Peterson Trio, the players' last recording, which was recorded live at the Town Tavern in Toronto, captured a stunning mix of emotional and musical knowledge.

Ellis recruited drummer Ed Thigpen after Ellis left in 1958 because no guitarist could compare to Ellis. Brown and Thigpen co-produced Night Train and The Canadiana Suites with Peterson. Both were left in 1965 and were replaced by bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes (and later, drummer Bobby Durham). The trio appeared together until 1970. Peterson's 1969 release of "Yesterday" and "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles, as orchestral arrangements. Peterson's trio released the album Tristeza on Piano in the fall of 1970. In 1970, Jones and Durham were exiled.

Peterson formed a trio with guitarist Joe Pass and bassist Niels-Henning Pedersen in the 1970s. With Brown and Ellis, this trio imitated the 1950s trio's triumph and gave unforgettable performances at festivals. The Trio's 1974 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Group went to the Trio. Peterson appeared in the interval act of the Eurovision Song Contest 1978, which was broadcast live from the Palais des Congrès de Paris on April 22, 1978. Martin Drew, a British drummer, was added to his squad in 1974. This quartet toured and recorded extensively around the world. "The only guys I've seen who have come close to perfect mastery of their instruments are Art Tatum and Peterson," Pass said in a 1976 interview.

Peterson was open to experimental collaborations with jazz players, including saxophonist Ben Webster, trumpeter Clark Terry, and vibraphonist Milt Jackson. The Peterson trio with Jackson released the album Very Tall in 1961. His solo recordings were rare until My Friends (MPS), a collection of albums that represented his tribute to pianists including Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner. After the label was established in 1973, he recorded for Pablo, led by Norman Granz. The Silent Partner's 1978 soundtrack was included in the collection. He performed in a duo with pianist Herbie Hancock in the 1980s. He appeared and recorded with his protégé Benny Green in the late 1980s and 1990s, following a stroke. He released several albums in the 1990s and 2000s, as well as a Telarc combo.

Peterson had arthritis from his childhood, and he had trouble buttoning his shirt in later years. His weight has risen to 125 kilogram (276 lb), limiting his mobility, and he is never slender. In the early 1990s, he underwent hip replacement surgery. Although the surgery was successful, his mobility was also hampered. A stroke in 1993 weakened his left hand and barred him from work for two years. Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister of Ontario, was on the verge of replacing him as Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario during the same year. Peterson resigned from work due to a lack of physical fitness as a result of the stroke, according to Chrétien.

Although he regained some dexterity in his left hand, his piano playing was less effective, and his style was based mainly on his right hand. He returned to occasional public appearances and appeared for Telarc in 1995. He received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award in 1997. "A one-handed Oscar was better than just about everybody with two hands," his friend, Canadian politician and amateur pianist Bob Rae said.

Peterson produced the DVD A Night in Vienna with Niels-Henning rsted Pedersen, Ulf Wakenius, and Martin Drew. He continued to tour the United States and Europe, but for the most part, he was away from concerts for at least a year.

His health worsened in 2007. He has postponed his plans to appear at the Toronto Jazz Festival and a Carnegie Hall all-star concert which was supposed to be named in his honor. Peterson died of kidney disease at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, on December 23, 2007.

Oscar Peterson's life in 2021 was filmed in Vancouver by Barry Avrich, who also appeared at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021.

Peterson was married four times. He had seven children with three of his wives. He used to smoke cigarettes and a pipe, and would often try to kick the habit, but he gained weight every time he stopped. He loved to cook and remained a large part of his life.

Personal life

Peterson was married four times. He had seven children with three of his wives. He used to smoke cigarettes and a pipe and often tried to kick the habit, but when he stopped, he gained weight every time. He loved to cook and stayed active throughout his life.

Source

Grammy Awards

• 1975 Best Jazz Performance by a Group The Trio
• 1977 Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist The Giants
• 1978 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist Oscar Peterson Jam – Montreux '77
• 1979 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist Oscar Peterson and The Trumpet Kings – Jousts
• 1990 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group Live at the Blue Note
• 1990 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist The Legendary Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Blue Note
• 1991 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group Saturday Night at the Blue Note
• 1997 Lifetime Achievement Award Instrumental Soloist Lifetime Achievement

Other awards

• Pianist of the year, DownBeat magazine, 1950, and won again for the next 12 years
• Order of Canada, Officer, 1972; Companion, 1984
• Canadian Version of the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, 1977
• Canadian Music Hall of Fame, 1978
• Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award, Black Theatre Workshop, 1986
• Roy Thomson Award, 1987
• Toronto Arts Award for lifetime achievement, 1991
• Governor General's Performing Arts Award, 1992
• Order of Ontario, member 1992
• 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal, 1992
• Glenn Gould Prize, 1993
• International Society for Performing Artists award, 1995
• Loyola Medal of Concordia University, 1997
• Praemium Imperiale World Art Award, 1999
• Oscar Peterson Concert Hall named at Concordia University, 1999
• UNESCO Music Prize, 2000
• Toronto Musicians' Association Musician of the Year, 2001
• SOCAN Special Achievement Award, 2008
• Canadian Version of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, 2002
• Canada's Walk of Fame, 2013
• Canadian Jazz and Blues Hall of Fame
• Juno Award Hall of Fame
• BBC Radio Lifetime Achievement Award
• National Order of Quebec, Chevalier
• Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France
• Civic Award of Merit, City of Mississauga, 2003
• Oscar Peterson Theatre, Canadian Embassy, Tokyo, Japan, 2007
• Oscar Peterson Hall, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2008
• Oscar Peterson Public School, Stouffville, 2009
• Parc Oscar-Peterson, Little Burgundy, Montreal, renamed in Peterson's honour 2009
• Statue of Oscar Peterson unveiled in Ottawa by Queen Elizabeth II, 2010
• Jazz Born Here, mural by Gene Pendon depicting Oscar Peterson, at Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Seigneurs in Montreal
• Historica Canada Heritage Minute, 2021
• Honorary degrees from Berklee College of Music, Carleton University, Queen's University, Concordia University, Université Laval, McMaster University, Mount Allison University, Niagara, Northwestern, University of Toronto, University of the West Indies, University of Western Ontario, University of Victoria, and York University
• (Announced) Public square to be named in honour of Oscar Peterson, Montreal, 2021