Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, CC, CQ, O.Ont ( born August 15, 1925 in Montréal, † December 23, 2007 in Mississauga ) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. Duke Ellington called him the " Maharaja of the keyboard ". He has published over 200 recordings, won seven Grammys and numerous other awards in his career. He is regarded as one of the most successful jazz pianists of all time, who played in his 65 -year career on thousands of concerts.
Biography
Peterson's parents, who had immigrated from the Caribbean, and his siblings played in a family band that initially trained him at the age of five years on the trumpet. Because of tuberculosis disease, he moved six years to the piano.
The victory in an amateur competition already made him so popular with 14 years that he got her own local radio show. In 1944 he was a member of the Johnny Holmes Orchestra, where he studied composing and arranging. Three years later he founded with Bert Brown ( bass) and Frank Gariepy (drums), his first trio whose performances were broadcast in the Alberta Lounge in Montreal on a regular basis by a local radio station. There he discovered in 1949 Norman Granz, who presented him as part of his jazz -at- the- Philharmonic tour as a surprise guest at New York's Carnegie Hall. For two years they toured together through the American concert halls.
Peterson 1952 founded a new trio with bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Barney Kessel, who a year later was replaced by Herb Ellis. With the drummer JC Heard expanded to a quartet, he accompanied Lester Young ( Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio). After emerging from Ellis 1958 Peterson took with Ed Thigpen again a drummer in his band, which remained in this formation until 1965, as particularly impressive in the albums " Night Train " from 1962 and " We Get Requests " to hear from 1965. These two trios are still among the most successful in the history of jazz.
From the mid- 1950s began numerous recordings and concerts with all known jazz greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Quincy Jones, Stan Getz, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Clark Terry, Freddie Hubbard and the Modern Jazz Quartet. At the same time he developed from the late 1960s a solo career which recordings are among his greatest achievements.
The mid-1970s left Ray Brown Trio, in its place came the Danish bassist Niels -Henning Ørsted Pedersen (but also Dave Young). Occasionally also played the guitarist Joe Pass with a few shots. Because of its popularity in the 1980s, Peterson got his own TV show in which he gave numerous jam sessions with well-known jazz musicians.
Overall, his fame is reflected in the seven Grammys, he received 1975-1991. He was awarded the Glenn Gould Prize in 1999 awarded the Praemium Imperiale of Japan Art Association for his lifetime achievements in 1993. During his career, he became familiar with all styles of music from the mainstream jazz. In his Canadiana Suite he ventured even closer to classical compositions. Oscar Peterson produced more than 100 music albums.
During an appearance at New York's Blue Note club in 1993 he suffered a stroke from which he so far recovered some years later that he was able to give one-handed concerts. 1995 made recordings with his colleagues Benny Carter and Clark Terry ( " The More I See You" ), the following year with the next generation of musicians such as Roy Hargrove and Ralph Moore. In 1998 he toured again in Munich with Ulf Wakenius and in New York's Blue Note with Milt Jackson ( The Very Tall Band). His last concert in Germany together with Ulf Wakenius gave Peterson (guitar ), Dave Young ( bass), and Alvin Queen ( drums) on 28 August 2005 in Dresden Semperoper.
Oscar Peterson was married four times. He died at the age of 82 from kidney failure at his home in Mississauga, leaving behind his wife Kelly, their daughter Celine (* 1991) and seven other children.
Selected discography
A selection of important albums by Oscar Peterson took place in view of the large scope of his work based on the ratings of the Penguin Guide to Jazz by Richard Cook and Brian Morton. It only albums were recorded, the highest (**** ) or second highest (*** ) (*) were reviewed. As Peterson's best work, the authors see the album Night Train to, taken in December 1962 following some remarkable albums.:
Collection
- 2008 - The Complete Clef / Mercury Studio Recordings of the Oscar Peterson Trio ( 1951-1953 ) - ( Mosaic ) 7 CDs with Barney Kessel, Ray Brown, Irving Ashby