News of someone\u2019s death is somehow sadder when you hear of it at Christmas time, which was how we felt when we learned that Oscar Peterson had died. He has been one of our jazz heroes ever since we first heard his mercurial pianism in the 1960\u2019s and over the years have seen some of his TV appearances and bought some of his recordings.<\/p>\n
People who know about such things say he was a disciple of the famous Art Tatum whom he revered, but he was famous in his own right as a giant of the keyboard with the most astonishing avalanche of inventive variations that became virtually new music. He was a giant in every way, with enormous hands, sitting massively on his piano stool and acknowledging his audience and whoever were his instrumental companions, but delighting in his own powers, almost as if he was playing for himself but sharing his enjoyment.<\/p>\n
During an illustrious career spanning seven decades, Peterson played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Duke Ellington (who called him the \u2018Maharajah of the keyboard\u2019), Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He is also remembered for the trio he led with Ray Brown on bass and Herb Ellis on guitar in the 1950s, producing in the opinion of some his best work.<\/p>\n
Canadian by birth and trained as a classical pianist, he quickly found fame in his chosen form of music. \u2018A jazz player is an instant composer,\u2019 Peterson once said, whilst conceding that jazz didn\u2019t have the mass appeal of other musical genres. \u2018You have to think about it, it’s an intellectual form.\u2019 He has spoken too about his \u2018will to perfection\u2019 and in his autobiography wrote \u2018it requires you to collect all your sense, emotions, physical strength and mental power, and focus them totally onto the performance \u2013 utter dedication, every time you play\u2019.<\/p>\n
Amongst the many tributes following the news of his death, Herbie Hancock, his only obvious successor as the world\u2019s greatest jazz pianist, says that Peterson \u2018redefined swing for modern jazz pianists\u2026.no one will ever take his place\u2019.<\/p>\n
And we can still listen to him.<\/p>\n
B.R.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
News of someone\u2019s death is somehow sadder when you hear of it at Christmas time, which was how we felt when we learned that Oscar Peterson had died. He has been one of our jazz heroes ever since we first heard his mercurial pianism in the 1960\u2019s and over the years have seen some of his TV appearances and bought some of his recordings. People who know about such things say he was a disciple of the famous Art Tatum whom he revered, but he was famous in his own right as a giant of the keyboard with the most <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"\n