Christmas in Canada was saddened by the death of Oscar Peterson, who is acknowledged by many as one of the greatest of our countrymen. During his immensely productive lifetime, Oscar exemplified everything that Canadians tend to admire: calm, equilibrium, gentle good humour, an inate and effortless democracy, a complete lack of pomposity and chest-beating, combined with a delight in life and pleasure, and an exact precision in execution. Every flash of fingers on the keyboard was like a Gretsky goal. In other words, he was the complete opposite of what modern consumer culture elevates as virtues. As long as we had him with us, perhaps, we could not be entirely corrupted.
The son of a Canadian Pacific Railway porter, Peterson grew up in the Little Burgundy neighbourhood of Montreal. It was a predominantly black neighbourhood that was filled with music, both classical and jazz. His musical family encouraged him in a classical training, and he studied with Paul de Marky, a student of Franz Liszt. He was psychologically a perfectionist, and practiced four to six hours a day, even in early childhood. By the age of fourteen, his astonishing virtuosity had led him to win a national radio competition. His strongest influences included Art Tatum, Bach, Rachmaninov, Nat “King” Cole, Teddy Wilson, and, most notably, his own sister, a music teacher who nurtured several Canadian jazz stars. He was at his greatest strength in trios, an artform which he perfected with the Ray Brown and Herb Ellis, with Ray Brown and Charlie Smith, and with virtuoso guitarist Joe Pass and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass.
Peterson’s modest decorum, always part of his particular charm, was exemplified when he was offered the position of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (in Canada, this position, not the Premiership, is the political Head of State). Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, a lifelong friend, was the instigator of this tribute, but Peterson turned it down. But Chrétien did manage to orchestrate a highly emotional meeting between Peterson and Nelson Mandela. His last years, despite ill-health, were concentrated on teaching. He always insisted that jazz pianists should master Bach as part of their basic training.
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