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Friday 30 July 2010, 18:16 BST (GMT+1) |
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Sunday Jazz 7th SeptemberFeatured Artist Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends, and was a member of jazz royalty. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career. He is considered to have been one of the greatest pianists of all time, who played thousands of live concerts to audiences worldwide in a career lasting more than 65 years. Peterson grew up in the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy, Montreal. It was in this predominantly black neighbourhood that he found himself surrounded by the jazz culture that flourished in the early 20th century. At the age of five, Peterson began honing his skills with the trumpet and piano. However, by the age of seven, after a bout of tuberculosis, he directed all his attention to the piano. His father, Daniel Peterson, an amateur trumpeter and pianist, was one of his first music teachers, and his sister, Daisy, taught young Oscar the classical piano. Young Oscar was persistent at practising scales and classical etudes daily, and thanks to such arduous practice he developed his astonishing virtuosity. As a child, Peterson also studied with Hungarian-born pianist Paul de Marky, a student of Istvan Thomán who was himself a pupil of Franz Liszt, so his training was predominantly based on classical piano. Meanwhile he was captivated by the traditional jazz and learned several ragtimes and especially the boogie-woogie. At that time Peterson was called "the Brown Bomber of the Boogie-Woogie." At age nine Peterson played piano with control that impressed professional musicians. For many years his piano studies included four to six hours of practice daily. Only in his later years did he decrease his daily practice to just one or two hours. In 1940, at age fourteen, Peterson won the national music competition organized by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. After that victory, he dropped out of school and became a professional pianist working for a weekly radio show, and playing at hotels and music halls. Peterson redefined the jazz trio by bringing musicianship of all three members to the highest level. The definitive trio with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis was, in his own words "the most stimulating" and productive setting for public performances as well as in studio recordings. In the early 1950s, Peterson began performing with Ray Brown and Charlie Smith as the Oscar Peterson Trio. Shortly afterward the drummer Smith was replaced by guitarist Irving Ashby, formerly of the Nat King Cole Trio. Ashby, who was a swing guitarist, was soon replaced by Barney Kessel. Kessel tired of touring after a year, and was succeeded by Herb Ellis. As Ellis was white, Peterson's trios were racially integrated, a controversial move at the time that was fraught with difficulties with segregationist whites and blacks. "Oscar Peterson Trio at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival" is widely regarded as the landmark album in Peterson's career, and one of the most influential trios in jazz. Their last recording, "On The Town with the Oscar Peterson Trio", recorded live at the Town Tavern in Toronto, captured a remarkable degree of emotional as well as musical understanding between three players. All three musicians were equal contributors involved in a highly sophisticated improvisational interplay. When Herb Ellis left the group in 1958, Peterson and Brown believed they could not adequately replace Ellis. Ellis was replaced by drummer Ed Thigpen in 1959. Brown and Thigpen worked with Peterson on his famous albums Night Train and the successful Canadiana Suite. The two guys in 1965 left and were replaced by Sam Jones and Bobby Durham. The trio had performed together until 1970. The albums that they had done were a bunch of pop songs like The Beatles' Yesterday and Eleanor Rigby. In the fall of 1970, Peterson's trio were successful in their album Tristeza on Piano which was a eulogy of the recently deceased Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, the Monterey Pop Festival stars. This record was released on CD in 1999, went out of print, and then came back remastered in 2005 as an anniversary edition. Selections from this trio's work have been incidentally used for Japanese anime and other live action films. Jones and Durham left in 1970. In the 1970s Peterson formed another landmark trio with virtuoso guitarist Joe Pass and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass. This trio emulated the success of the 1950's trio with Brown and Ellis, gave acclaimed performances at numerous festivals, and made best-selling recordings, most notably the 1978 double album recorded live in Paris. In 1974 Oscar added British drummer, Martin Drew, and this quartet toured and recorded extensively worldwide. Peterson had arthritis since his youth, and in later years could hardly button his shirt. Never slender, his weight increased to 125 kg (275 pounds), hindering his mobility. He had hip replacement surgery in the early 1990s. Although the surgery was successful, his mobility still was not good. Somewhat later, in 1993, Peterson suffered a serious stroke that weakened his left side and sidelined him for two years. Also in 1993 incoming Prime Minister and longtime Peterson fan and friend Jean Chrétien offered Peterson the position of Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, but according to Chrétien he declined, citing the health problems from his recent stroke. After the stroke, Peterson recuperated for about two years. He gradually regained mobility and some control of his left hand. However, his virtuosity was never restored to the original level, and his playing after his stroke relied principally on his right hand. In 1995 he returned to public performances on a limited basis, and also made several live and studio recordings for Telarc. In 1997 he received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award, another indication that Peterson continued to be regarded as one of the greatest jazz musicians ever to play. Canadian politician, friend, and amateur pianist Bob Rae contends that "a one-handed Oscar was better than just about anyone with two hands". In 2003, Peterson recorded the DVD A Night in Vienna for Verve, with Niels Pedersen, Ulf Wakenius and Martin Drew. He continued to tour the U.S. and Europe, though maximally one month a year, with a couple of days' rest between concerts to recover his strength. His accompanists consisted of Ulf Wakenius (guitar), David Young (bass), and Alvin Queen (drums), all leaders of their own groups. Peterson's health declined rapidly in 2007. He had to cancel his performance at the 2007 Toronto Jazz Festival and his attendance at a June 8, 2007 Carnegie Hall all-star performance in his honour, owing to illness. On 23 December 2007, Peterson died of renal failure at his home in Mississauga, Ontario. He left seven children, his fourth wife Kelly, and their daughter, Celine (born 1991). Play List Art Hodes - Tin Roof Blues Gigs
Monday 8th September The Frog Island Jazz Band at the Southend Jazz Club, EKCO Social & Sports club in Thornford Gardens, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea. Tuesday 9th September The Sandra Lambert Quintet with vocalist Steve Pert will be performing at the Belvedere Jazz Club, Harding Elms Lane, Crays Hill, Billericay. Doors at 7.45pm, admission is £6
Thursday 11th September Jazz and Curry night at the Ship in Leigh-on-Sea. Music from 8.00pm Free admission
Monday 15th September Brian White's Kings Of Jazz at the Southend Jazz Club, EKCO Social & Sports club in Thornford Gardens, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea.
Tuesday 16th September John Withers & Friends will be performing at the Belvedere Jazz Club, Harding Elms Lane, Crays Hill, Billericay. Doors at 7.45pm, admission is £6
Saturday 20thSeptember The Imperial Wharf Jazz Festival, FREE entry
Monday 22nd September The Chez Chesterman Jazz Band at the Southend Jazz Club, EKCO Social & Sports club in Thornford Gardens, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea.
Tuesday 23rd September Helen Keeting & Friends will be performing at the Belvedere Jazz Club, Harding Elms Lane, Crays Hill, Billericay. Doors at 7.45pm, admission is £6
Thursday 25th September Dinner Jazz @ the Rouge Restaurant in Redbridge featuring Interplay (bookings essentail)
Friday 26th September Jazz in the Afternoon at the Ship in Legh-on-Sea. Music from 1.00 pm. Free Admission
Friday 26th September Duke Ellington's "The Queen Suite", Queen Elizibeth Hall, The South Bank Centre 2.00pm - 4.00pm, FREE entry
Monday 29th September Original Eastside Stompers at the Southend Jazz Club, EKCO Social & Sports club in Thornford Gardens, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea.
Tuesday 30th September Interplay at the Smack in Old Leigh. Music starts 8.30 pm. Free Admission
Tuesday 30th September Ken Turner Big Band will be performing at the Belvedere Jazz Club, Harding Elms Lane, Crays Hill, Billericay. Doors at 7.45pm, admission is £6
Friday 24th October Festival New Oreleans at The O2 Areana, London. The O2 will become home to Festival New Orleans. Coinciding with the New Orleans Saints’ official NFL game against the San Diego Chargers at Wembley, London is preparing for one of the largest ever celebrations of New Orleans music and culture outside of Louisiana and the USA.
Saturday 25th October Festival New Oreleans at The O2 Areana, London. The O2 will become home to Festival New Orleans. Coinciding with the New Orleans Saints’ official NFL game against the San Diego Chargers at Wembley, London is preparing for one of the largest ever celebrations of New Orleans music and culture outside of Louisiana and the USA.
Links
Sunday Jazz on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19916168690&ref=mf
Southend Jazz Co-Op http://www.southendjazz.co.uk/ or http://www.myspace.com/southendjazz Soutend Jazz Club http://www.myspace.com/southendjazzclub Belvedere Jazz Bar http://www.myspace.com/belvederejazz The Cooker - Upstairs at Ronnie Scott's www.myspace.com/thecookerupstairsatronniescotts Interplay www.interplay-jazz.co.uk  Written by Lloyd Bonson
Posted in Sunday Jazz 7 Sep 2008 
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