33 Facts About Oscar Peterson

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer.

Oscar Peterson played thousands of concerts worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years.

Oscar Peterson considered the trio with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis "the most stimulating" and productive setting for public performances and studio recordings.

Oscar Peterson won eight Grammy Awards during his lifetime between 1975 and 1997.

Oscar Peterson is considered among the best jazz pianists and jazz improvisers of the twentieth century.

Oscar Peterson was born in Montreal, Quebec, to immigrants from the West Indies ; His mother, Kathleen, was a domestic worker; his father, Daniel, worked as a porter for Canadian Pacific Railway and was an amateur musician who taught himself to play the organ, trumpet and piano.

Oscar Peterson grew up in the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy in Montreal.

At the age of five, Oscar Peterson began honing his skills on trumpet and piano, but a bout of tuberculosis when he was seven prevented him from playing the trumpet again, so he directed all his attention to the piano.

Oscar Peterson's father was one of his first music teachers, and his sister Daisy taught him classical piano.

Oscar Peterson was called "the Brown Bomber of the Boogie-Woogie".

At the age of nine, Oscar Peterson played piano with a degree of control that impressed professional musicians.

Oscar Peterson became a professional pianist, starring in a weekly radio show and playing at hotels and music halls.

Oscar Peterson gravitated toward boogie-woogie and swing with a particular fondness for Nat King Cole and Teddy Wilson.

Oscar Peterson was so impressed that he told the driver to take him to the club so he could meet the pianist.

Oscar Peterson remained Peterson's manager for most of his career.

In 1950, Oscar Peterson worked in a duo with double bassist Ray Brown.

Oscar Peterson considered the trio with Brown and Ellis "the most stimulating" and productive setting for public performances and studio recordings.

In 1969 Oscar Peterson recorded Motions and Emotions with orchestral arrangements of "Yesterday" and "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles.

Oscar Peterson was open to experimental collaborations with jazz musicians such as saxophonist Ben Webster, trumpeter Clark Terry, and vibraphonist Milt Jackson.

Oscar Peterson recorded for Pablo, led by Norman Granz, after the label was founded in 1973, including the soundtrack for the 1978 thriller The Silent Partner.

Oscar Peterson had arthritis from his youth, and in later years he had trouble buttoning his shirt.

Oscar Peterson had hip replacement surgery in the early 1990s.

Oscar Peterson then mentored the York University jazz program and was the Chancellor of the university for several years in the early 1990s.

Oscar Peterson continued to tour the US and Europe, though at most one month a year, with rest between concerts.

Oscar Peterson canceled his plans to perform at the Toronto Jazz Festival and a Carnegie Hall all-star concert that was to be given in his honour.

Oscar Peterson died on December 23,2007, of kidney failure at his home in Mississauga, Ontario.

Oscar Peterson had seven children with three of his wives.

Oscar Peterson smoked cigarettes and a pipe and often tried to break the habit, but he gained weight every time he stopped.

Oscar Peterson loved to cook and remained overweight throughout his life.

Oscar Peterson taught piano and improvisation in Canada, mainly in Toronto.

Tatum and Oscar Peterson became good friends, although Oscar Peterson was always shy about being compared to Tatum and rarely played the piano in Tatum's presence.

Under his sister's tutelage, Oscar Peterson expanded into classical piano training and broadened his range while mastering the core classical pianism from scales to preludes and fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Oscar Peterson asked his students to study the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially The Well-Tempered Clavier, the Goldberg Variations, and The Art of Fugue, considering these piano pieces essential for every serious pianist.