Oscar Peterson's centennial is Friday, Aug. 15. Tune in to WRTI all week to hear selections from throughout his career — and don't miss a special one-hour tribute on the Aug. 17 episode of Bob Craig's Sunday Jazz Brunch in the 11 a.m. hour!
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was born 100 years ago in Montreal, on Aug. 15, 1925. Twenty years later, his first Canadian recordings were heard. This was a changeable period in jazz. Big band swing was fading, and bebop was gaining.
The early piano heroes of this emerging modern music included Bud Powell, Al Haig and Dodo Marmarosa. Their style somewhat reflected Nat Cole’s trio sound. Confronted with a choice to fall in line with the pack, Oscar chose to concentrate on swinging, with thick, bluesy chords.
The jazz impresario Norman Granz heard him and invited him to perform on a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert at Carnegie Hall in 1949 — Oscar had arrived! Like Nat, Oscar put together a trio without drums, enlisting Ray Brown on bass and Herb Ellis on guitar. However, there was no similarity in sound.
His 1952 performance of the popular song “Tenderly,” with its elaborate intro, cool melody and infectious improv, sealed his stature with a rite of swing that opened the second half of the 20th century. This is from another JATP concert at Carnegie Hall, and to my ears, it puts this trio at the head of the class in the cool school of jazz. The audience enthusiasm is over the top.
By this time, Peterson was in demand. Not only for concerts and studio recordings, but also singers. From Ella, Louie and Billie to Fred Astaire and the actress Dorothy Dandridge. And even a couple of albums with Oscar singing. One such album was With Respect To Nat, recorded soon after Cole’s passing in 1965. It was an homage to Oscar’s hero. What stands out is the uncanny vocal similarity between the two.
O.P. made about 100 albums as a leader. (Read on for some of my personal favorites.) His discography is a who’s who of virtually every major name in jazz during his 60 years on the scene. Joe Pass, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Joe Faddis, Count Basie — and on and on.
A stroke in 1993 weakened Peterson’s left side and sidelined him for a couple of years. He resumed occasional performances, and in 1997 received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Other awards are too numerous to mention here.
Regrettably, I only attended one of his concerts. It was a masterful solo performance at the University of Massachusetts in the mid 1970s. As expected, it was filled with extended interpretations of jazz standards and tunes from the Great American Songbook. To watch him play was to witness dancing fingers over 88 keys; he played with assured ease on the ballads and flying fingers on the swingers. And that plump smile that creased his glowing face after each song was priceless.
Sadly, when he passed in 2007, I always felt that there were some notes and chords on the piano that only Oscar knew how to find. That’s a quality available only to those who qualify as a genius of their craft.
Here are five of my personal favorite Oscar Peterson albums:
The Oscar Peterson Trio at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival (1956)
His well-established trio with Ray Brown (bass) and Herb Ellis (guitar) gave a rousing performance in Ontario in 1956. The CD version includes additional tracks to this exceptionally fine performance.
West Side Story (1962)
When the film version of the Bernstein/Sondheim hit became a movie in 1961, Oscar's trio gave it a straight ahead version featuring its six biggest songs. It became perhaps his most popular album.
Quiet Now: Time & Again (2000)
Perhaps the most relaxing full-length release by Oscar that you’ll ever hear — a compilation of well-known songs mostly from the Great American Songbook. Once you put it on, nothing else matters.
Very Tall (1961)
Between 1953 and 1955, Oscar accompanied vibraphone titan Lionel Hampton in a series of quartet and quintet recordings. But this 1962 album with another leading vibraphonist, Milt Jackson, emerged as an extremely strong set for a pair of giants who knew how to define swing.
The Trio (1974)
The second great O.P. trio with Ray Brown (bass) and Ed Thigpen (drums) in performance at Chicago’s London House. The group, in peak form, puts forth with a high level of sensitivity and swing.
