Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson is a
Canadian jazz pianist and
composer. He was born on
August 15,
1925 in
Montreal,
Quebec,
Canada, .
He began learning
trumpet and
piano from his father at the age of five, but by the age of seven he was focused on the piano. He soon developed a reputation as a technically brilliant and melodically inventive
jazz pianist, and became a regular on
radio. He first appeared at
Carnegie Hall in
1949.
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| - Oscar Peterson - |
Some of his musical associates have included
Ray Brown,
Herb Ellis,
Ed Thigpen,
Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen,
Louis Armstrong,
Ella Fitzgerald,
Clark Terry, and
Joe Pass. An important moment of his career was when he joined
impresario Norman Granz's labels (especially
Verve records), with which he was able to play with the major jazz artists of the moment.
Some of the artists who influenced Oscar during the early years were
Teddy Wilson,
Nat "King" Cole,
James P. Johnson and the legendary
Art Tatum, who many have tried to compare Oscar to in later years. In fact, one of Oscar's first exposures to the musical talents of Art Tatum came early in his teen years when his father played an Art Tatum record to him and Oscar was so intimidated by what he heard that he didn't touch the piano for over a month.
In
1993, Oscar suffered a serious stroke that weakened his left side and sidelined him for two years. However he has overcome this setback and is today still touring, recording and composing as ever before. In
1997 he received a
Grammy for Lifetime Achievement and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award, proof that Oscar Peterson is still regarded as one of the greatest jazz musicians ever to play.
His work has earned him seven Grammy awards over the years and he was elected to the
Canadian Music Hall of Fame in
1978.
From 1991 to 1994 he was chancellor of
York University in
Toronto.
In 2004 the City of
Toronto named the courtyard of the
Toronto-Dominion Centre Oscar Peterson Square.
His prolific recording output includes\n*Exclusively for My Friends\n*Canadiana Suite (
1963)\n*Hymn to Freedom (
1964)\n*Easter Suite (
1984)
External links
Peterson, Oscar\nPeterson, Oscar\nPeterson, Oscar\nPeterson, Oscar