The great pianist Oscar Peterson died on December 23. He was one of the most astonishing piano virtuosos in jazz history. No passage ever seemed to challenge him. His playing was a waterfall of notes and ideas.
Peterson was not so much an innovator as consolidator. He never really explored beyond his early blend of swing and bop. But he used this style and his enormous technique as an expressive tool. One criticism of his playing was that there was very little tension in his playing, you never felt that his music pushed any boundaries, stylistic or physical. But what his facility allowed him was the complete expression of joy in his music. His playing is the sound of the pure pleasure of mastery.
He started out playing the trumpet but as a teenager he heard Art Tatum and thereafter dedicated himself to the piano. In all of his playing you can hear the influence of his idol. He became sort of the "house pianist" for the Jazz at the Philharmonic series and, in addition to his own recordings, he recorded with, among others, Billie Holiday, Fred Astaire, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young and Stan Getz.
He loved the trio format of piano, guitar and bass. His classic trio of the mid-50s included Herb Ellis on guitar and Ray Brown on bass. If you want to try some Peterson I would recommend either At the Stratford Shakespearean Festival or At the Concertgebouw (which was actually recorded in Chicago). A later mid-70s recording with Joe Pass and Neils-Henning Orsted-Pederson is also a good sampler.
The critic Doug Ramsey posted a funny little anecdote about Peterson on his blog. In addition to Tatum, Peterson idolized Duke Ellington who was 26 years older.
Quote:
Following Oscar Peterson on stage at a concert in 1967, Duke Ellington remarked: "When I was a small boy my music teacher was Mrs Clinkscales. The first thing she ever said to me was, 'Edward, always remember, whatever you do, don't sit down at the piano after Oscar Peterson'."
