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| Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 25 1925 - December 23 2007)  Called the "Maharajah of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, canadian jazz pianist and composer Oscar Peterson is considered to have been one of the greatest piano players of all time. He played to audiences worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years. Oscar Peterson grew up in the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy, Montreal. At five years old, Peterson began honing his skills with the trumpet and piano. However, by the age of seven, after a bout of tuberculosis, he directed all his attention to the piano.Some of the artists who influenced Peterson during the early years were Teddy Wilson, Nat "King" Cole, James P. Johnson and the legendary Art Tatum. He soon developed a reputation as a technically brilliant and melodically inventive jazz pianist, and became a regular on Canadian radio. His United States introduction was at Carnegie Hall, New York City, New York, in 1949 by Norman Granz. An important step in his career was joining impresario Norman Granz's labels (especially Verve records) and Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic package. Through Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic he was able to play with the major jazz artists of the time: some of his musical associates have included Ray Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Milt Jackson, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel, Ed Thigpen, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Louis Armstrong, Stéphane Grappelli, Ella Fitzgerald, Clark Terry, Joe Pass, Anita O'Day, Fred Astaire, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, and Stan Getz. In the early 1950s, Peterson began performing with Ray Brown and Charlie Smith as the Oscar Peterson Trio. Shortly afterward the drummer Smith was replaced by guitarist Irving Ashby, formerly of the Nat King Cole Trio. Ashby, who was a swing guitarist, was soon replaced by Barney Kessel. When Ellis left the group in 1958, Peterson and Brown believed they could not adequately replace Ellis, and the trio added a drummer — first Gene Gammage for a brief time, then Ed Thigpen. In this group Peterson became the dominant soloist. Later members of the group were Louis Hayes, Bobby Durham, Ray Price, Sam Jones, and George Mraz. Peterson had arthritis since his youth, and in later years could hardly button his shirt. He also had hip replacement surgery in the early 1990s. Although the surgery was successful, his mobility suffered. Somewhat later, in 1993, Peterson suffered a serious stroke that weakened his left side and sidelined him for two years. Also in 1993 incoming Prime Minister and longtime Peterson fan and friend Jean Chretien offered Peterson the position of Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, but according to Chretien he declined citing the health problems from his recent stroke. However, Peterson continued to work on a limited basis. In 1997 he received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award, another indication that Peterson continued to be regarded as one of the greatest jazz musicians ever to play. In 2003, Peterson recorded the DVD A Night in Vienna for the Verve label. He continued to tour the U.S. and Europe, though maximally one month a year, with a couple of days rest between concerts to recover his strength. His accompanists consisted of Ulf Wakenius (guitar), David Young[7] (bass) and Alvin Queen (drums), all leaders of their own groups. Peterson had to cancel his performance at the 2007 Toronto Jazz Festival and his attendance at a June 8, 2007 Carnegie Hall all-star performance in his honour, due to illness. On December 23, 2007, Oscar Peterson died of kidney failure at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, a western suburb of Toronto. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |