Oscar Peterson

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was born on August 15, 1925 in Montreal, Canada. His father, Daniel Peterson moved to Canada in 1917 where he met and married Kathleen Olivia John, Oscar's mother.

Oscar's father, Daniel Peterson, was an avid musician and insisted that his children studied music. At first, Oscar musical career started at the age of five. At that time, he played the trumpet. However, he contracted Tuberculosis the next year and spent the next 14 months in the hospital. Tuberculosis badly damaged is lungs and he could no longer play the trumpet. Therefore, he centered his energy on playing the piano.

Oscar was a quick learner and it became obvious that he had enormous talent. He practiced daily up to 14 hours. Throughout his childhood, he was mostly influenced by classical music. Additionally, all of his teachers were all of classical music background. His father wanted Oscar to become a great classical pianist, but Oscar's desire was in Jazz. His sister, Daisy was supportive of Oscar and helped him get onto a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation competition. Oscar was the winner of the competition and earned himself a spot on a radio show playing piano weekly.

His career took off and he played with many of the greatest Jazz artist. Oscar became at home with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Roy Eldridge, Stan Getz and Charlie Parker, just to name a few.

In 1944 Oscar married girlfriend by the name of Lillie Fraser.

In 1947 Oscar was playing with a trio at the Alberta Lounge in Montreal. A local radio station began to broadcast live from the Alberta once a week. Norman Granz, the producer of Jazz at the Philharmonic, heard the broadcast on the Radio and was quite impressed and told the cab driver to take him to the club.

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Norman Granz took Oscar to New York to play as a surprise guest at the Carnegie Hall performance of his Jazz at the Philharmonic. Oscar came up from the audience that night and played a duo with bassist Ray Brown which thrilled the audience and critics alike. Thus began Oscars's lifelong relationship with Mr. Granz.

After his appearance at Carnegie Hall, Oscar joined the Jazz at the Philharmonic and began touring across the country with the group. After playing with the group for several years, Oscar set up his own Trio. They worked incredibly hard and became the one of the best jazz trios in the world. Art Tatum soon met his idol while playing at a club in Washington DC. Oscar and Art Tatum soon became close friends and played for each other on many occasions.

Oscar went through several people in his Trio, each group having a distinct feel and flavor. Oscar especially enjoyed playing with Ed Thigpen on drums. He describes this time as "...six years of unbelievable music." In 1960, Oscar, opened the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, Ontario. The school was successful but fiscal difficulties forced the school to close after only three years of operation.

In 1962 Oscar and the trio had an amazing year that resulted eleven albums that year. Oscar's first major composition, "Canadian Suite", was released in 1964. However, he made many more compositions and recorded many albums both in his Trio and as a soloist.

In 1993 Oscar suffered a serious stroke which prevented him from performing for almost 2 years. However, he did recover. In 1997 he received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement is one of the greatest Jazz Pianists of all time.

On December 23, 2007, Oscar died at his home in Montreal at the age of 82.

Jazz Pianist

August 15, 1925 - December 23, 2007