Jazz great Oscar Peterson dies at 82

Oscar Peterson, whose early talent and speedy fingers made him one of the world’s best known jazz pianists, died at age 82.

His death was confirmed by Hazel McCallion, mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, the Toronto suburb where Peterson lived. McCallion told The Associated Press that he died of kidney failure but that she did not know when. The hospital and police refused to comment.

“He’s been going downhill in the last few months, slowing up,” McCallion said, calling Peterson a “very close friend.”

During an illustrious career spanning seven
decades, Peterson played with some of the biggest names in jazz,
including Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. He is also
remembered for touring in a trio with Ray Brown on bass and Herb Ellis
on guitar in the 1950s.

Peterson’s
impressive collection of awards include all of Canada’s highest honors,
such as the Order of Canada, as well as a Lifetime Grammy (1997) and a
spot in the International Jazz Hall of Fame.

His
growing stature was reflected in the admiration of his peers. Duke
Ellington referred to him as “Maharajah of the keyboard,” while Count
Basie once said “Oscar Peterson plays the best ivory box I’ve ever
heard.”

“The world has lost an important jazz player,” said McCallion. “It isn’t just a loss for Canada, he was world famous.”

Born
on Aug. 15, 1925, in a poor neighborhood southwest of Montreal,
Peterson obtained a passion for music from his father. Daniel Peterson,
a railway porter and self-taught musician, bestowed his love of music
to his five children, offering them a means to escape from poverty.

Oscar
Peterson learned to play trumpet and piano at a young age, but after a
bout with tuberculosis had to concentrate on the latter.

He
became a teen sensation in his native Canada, playing in dance bands
and recording in the late 1930s and early 1940s. But he got his real
break as a surprise guest at Carnegie Hall in 1949, after which he
began touring the United States and Europe.

He quickly made a name for himself as a jazz
virtuoso, often compared to piano great Art Tatum, his childhood idol,
for his speed and technical skill.

He
was also influenced by Nat King Cole, whose Nat King Cole Trio album he
considered “a complete musical thesaurus for any aspiring Jazz pianist.”

Peterson
never stopped calling Caada home despite his growing international
reputation. But at times he felt slighted here, where he was
occasionally mistaken for a football player, standing at 6 foot 3 and
more than 250 pounds.

In
2005 he became the first living person other than a reigning monarch to
obtain a commemorative stamp in Canada, where he is jazz royalty, with
streets, squares, concert halls and schools named after him.

Peterson
suffered a stroke in 1993 that weakened his left hand, but not his
passion or drive for music. Within a year he was back on tour,
recording “Side By Side” with Itzhak Perlman.

As he grew older, Peterson kept playing and touring, despite worsening arthritis and difficulties walking.

“A
jazz player is an instant composer,” Peterson once said in a Canadian
Broadcasting Corp. interview, while conceding jazz did not have the
mass appeal of other musical genres. “You have to think about it, it’s
an intellectual form,” he said.