Oscar Peterson - dead at 82

[TripperFan]

Just one of the nicest, classiest guys you could ever meet. Rest in peace Oscar.


By Andrea Baillie, The Canadian Press


TORONTO - Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, whose flying fingers mesmerized audiences around the world - from dance halls in 1940s Montreal to the lights of Carnegie Hall and beyond - has died at age 82.


He played alongside the giants of jazz: Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Roy Eldridge, Nat King Cole, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, who once called Peterson the "Maharajah of the keyboard."


"Until the end, Oscar Peterson could tour the world and fill concert halls everywhere," said Andre Menard, artistic director and co-founder of the Montreal International Jazz Festival.


"This is something that never diminished. His drawing power, his mystique as a musician, was so big that he remained at the top of his game until the end ... Oscar Peterson has been the musician every musician in the world can look up to and aspire to."


Word of Peterson's death at his home in Mississauga, Ont., set off a torrent of international tributes, including a statement from French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who said "one of the bright lights of jazz has gone out."


"He was a regular on the French stage, where the public adored his luminous style," Sarkozy added. "It is a great loss for us."


Heritage Minister Josee Verner called Peterson a great Canadian and a beloved citizen of the world.


"His musical legacy will live on, as will his generous spirit in the hearts of those who knew and loved him," she said in a statement.


Former prime minister Jean Chretien reminisced Monday about the display of mutual admiration that unfolded when he invited Peterson to a 2001 ceremony honouring South African leader Nelson Mandela.


Chretien had been a fan and friend of Peterson's for decades, and says he had already offered to make him Ontario's lieutenant-governor after he took office in 1993.


He said Peterson declined for health reasons.


Years later Chretien brought Peterson to an Ottawa event where Mandela was named an honourary Canadian citizen.


During a private meeting, Chretien recalled, the revolutionary political figure glowed upon meeting the great pianist.


"It was very emotional," Chretien said.


"They were both moved to meet each other. These were two men with humble beginnings who rose to very illustrious levels."


Known for the propulsive swing of his music as well as his astounding technical virtuosity, the Montreal-born Peterson visited almost every major concert hall around the globe, recording some of the country's most distinctive music including "Canadiana Suite" and "Hymn to Freedom."


"He just drove the whole bus," Senator Tommy Banks, also a pianist, said Monday in Edmonton.

For the master himself, playing piano was an "extreme joy" that he couldn't articulate.

"I can only transmit it through the playing; I can't put it into words," Peterson said in a 1996 interview.

When describing how Peterson's music made her feel, the late Fitzgerald once said: "It makes you want to sing."

Throughout his career, Peterson was showered with accolades. He collected eight Grammys, including a lifetime achievement award in 1997, hundreds of prizes from the jazz community, the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for lifetime achievement and was a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 2005 Canada Post marked his contribution to music with a 50-cent stamp.

He was set to be honoured again next month in Toronto.

Peterson was frequently invited to perform for various luminaries including the Queen and U.S. President Richard Nixon.

"The piano is like an extension of his own physical being," composer Phil Nimmons, who helped create "Canadiana Suite," said in 1975 of his longtime friend.

"I'm amazed at the speed of his creativity. I am not talking about mere technical capabilities, although his are awesome. I'm speaking of the times when you find him under optimum conditions of creativity. His mind can move as quickly as his fingers and that is what is so astounding."

Peterson began playing the piano and trumpet as a young boy under the stern tutelage of his father, Daniel Peterson, a West Indian immigrant who worked as a railway porter.

He continued with his piano studies under the watch of his older sister Daisy after tuberculosis damaged his lungs at age six.

At 14, Peterson earned his first break, winning the CBC's national amateur contest (and $250). With his father's permission, Peterson dropped out of school to focus on his budding career.

As the only black member of a dance band, he was frequently subjected to the racism of the day. Peterson spent a great deal of his life acting as a spokesman for minority rights, drawing on his experiences growing up St. Antoine district of Montreal.

International exposure came in 1948 when Norman Granz, producer of Jazz at the Philharmonic, heard Peterson on Montreal radio and later invited the 24-year-old to New York to play as a surprise guest at Carnegie Hall. After the performance, the young talent joined the troupe and toured North America with them for two years.

Peterson, whose career was managed by Granz for over 30 years, formed a trio in 1951 with Ray Brown on bass and Charlie Smith on drums and continued playing with the prestigious group.

His most famous threesome - from 1953 to 1958 - was with guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown who were often cited as one of the world's finest jazz combos.

"You saw the greatness immediately," Ellis once said of Peterson. "He was awesome right away - always."

Ellis left the Peterson trio in 1958 and was replaced by drummer Ed Thigpen. That trio lasted for seven years.

Although Peterson was one of Canada's leading artistic exports, he was frequently mistaken as an American because of his Jazz at the Philharmonic performances.

"I've achieved a funny kind of status in Canada," he once said. "Most of it comes because I went to the United States and other places, and as a result of Canadians having seen me repeatedly on the television shows of people like Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin . . . I think that has weighed heavily with Canadians."

But he loved his home country and had lived in Mississauga since the late 1950s.

On a personal level, he was remembered as a low-key guy with a wonderful sense of humour.

"They named a school after him, he used to drop in unexpectedly to visit the school, that's the kind of person he was, very down to earth," Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion said in an interview. "You didn't realize you were in the presence of a world famous jazz player."

Added Menard: "He was a really straightforward man. Lots of integrity. Whatever he promised, he would deliver."

Peterson was also well known for his kindness towards young artists, having tutored many an aspiring pianist.

Diana Krall credits Peterson for prompting her to pursue a musical career after catching one of his concerts as a young girl.

"You inspire me to no end every day," she told him in 2005 during a ceremony unveiling a Canada Post stamp in his honour.

In his efforts to coach youth, Peterson helped open Toronto's Advanced School of Contemporary Music in 1960 only to see his beloved project fail due to financial difficulties three years later. He didn't give up, serving as an adjunct music professor at York University in the mid-1980s and as its chancellor in the early 1990s.

Arthritis became a problem for the charming musician in the 1980s, causing him some pain in his hands and difficulty in walking yet he never seemed to slow down.

In 1993, at 68, he suffered a stroke which incapacitated his left hand. Peterson recovered and resumed performing two years later.

He then released "A Summer Night in Munich," a live recording of old and new material; an instructional CD-ROM; and "Trail of Dreams," a musical portrait of Canada commemorating the Trans Canada Trail.

"Age doesn't seem to enter into my thought to that great an extent," he said in 2001. "I just figure that the love I have of the instrument and my group and the medium itself works as a sort of a rejuvenating factor for me."

A spokesperson at a Mississauga, Ont., funeral home said Monday that a service for the pianist would be private.

McCallion said the cause of death was kidney failure.

[ABlairican Pie]

It's sad, all the great jazz artists are passing away.

I remember back when I was 11 years old and watching news reports that Duke Ellington had passed away in the spring of 1974. I thought it was sad, because I grew up listening to his music earlier and really enjoyed it.

[Mikado]

[TripperFan]

Originally Posted by ABlairican Pie

It's sad, all the great jazz artists are passing away.

I remember back when I was 11 years old and watching news reports that Duke Ellington had passed away in the spring of 1974. I thought it was sad, because I grew up listening to his music earlier and really enjoyed it.

I'd loved playing Duke's stuff in high school band. I wanted to join the school's jazz band, but of course I couldn't since I don't know any flute parts in Jazz!