Oscar Peterson

Oscar Peterson's piano virtuosity was evident from his childhood. As a youngster he showed promise on both piano and trumpet, but abandoned the latter during a bout with tuberculosis. By age ten he was a fluent pianist; he studied classical piano but fell under the spell of jazz man Art Tatum, who would remain his idol. At age 14 Peterson won a talent show and began playing professionally, he was known for a time as the "Brown Bomber of Boogie Woogie"-a name referring in part to his impressive 6'3" stature. He toured America in the late '40s as the only black member of the Johnny Holmes Orchestra. While with that group he met the jazz impresario Norman Granz, who persuaded him to move beyond boogie-woogie. Granz added Peterson to his all-star Jazz at the Philharmonic troupe and booked him to play Carnegie Hall in 1949, which would be his American breakthrough. The following year he won Down Beat magazine's readers' poll as best pianist, for the first of a dozen times. From the start Peterson's trademark was his ability to swing, even while playing at daredevil speed. Though his detractors complained he played too many notes and seldom varied his style, he was admired by other musicians including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Duke Ellington; the latter dubbed him the "maharajah of the keyboard." Peterson's technique was matched by his prolificacy: Over the next five decades he released as many as five albums per year. Though he recorded in many configurations, his preferred format was the trio. The first of many lineups was formed in 1952 with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Charlie Smith. The most famous lineup retained Brown, lost the drummer and added guitarist Herb Ellis. This group recorded one of Peterson's most popular albums, live at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival in England. The material here was a mix of show tunes, pop standards and pieces by Ellington and Monk. Over time he covered a wide variety of material, devoting albums to specific composers and scores and even doing the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" with vibraphonist Milt Jackson in 1971. Though less-known as a composer, he did write two album-length pieces, 1964's Canadiana Suite, inspired by his upbringing, and 1980's Royal Wedding Suite to commemorate the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. He even sang on one album, a Nat King Cole tribute. He worked with a variety of collaborators including Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and the Modern Jazz Quartet. He toured in the '80s with pianist Herbie Hancock, and later chose young pianist Benny Green as his protégé. He also reunited the classic Ellis/Brown trio for a live album at New York's Blue Note in 1990, and in 1997 received a lifetime achievement Grammy Award. Despite mounting health problems, including a 1993 stroke that affected his left hand, his technique remained impressive through his senior years. In June 2007 Peterson's declining health kept him from attending a Carnegie Hall show in his honor, spearheaded by Wynton Marsalis. Peterson died of kidney failure at the end of that year.