One of the most technically superb pianists in jazz, Oscar Peterson was born in Montreal, Canada on August 15, 1925. During a career that spanned more than six decades, Peterson would make more than 200 records, win seven Grammys and receive a lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Beginning in 1950 he won the DownBeat magazine poll for best pianist for twelve consecutive years.

Known to jazz musicians as “O.P.,” Oscar Peterson began piano lessons at the age of five, learning from his father and an older sister. At 14 years old he won a national competition sponsored by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. After his victory he dropped out of high school and joined a band with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. While still a teenager, Peterson was playing gigs as a solo act and had a weekly radio program. By 1945 he was playing in a trio setting and recording for Victor Records.

In 1949 producer Norman Granz heard Oscar Peterson on the radio while riding in a cab in Montreal. Granz had the driver take him to the club where the live broadcast was taking place and invited Peterson to come to New York City and become part of his Jazz at the Philharmonic concert tours. The next year O.P. began playing as a duo with bassist Ray Brown and later added guitarist Barney Kessel to their group. After Kessel quit, Herb Ellis replaced him on guitar. Ellis left the group in 1958 and was replaced by drummer Ed Thigpen. All of these configurations made popular and musically stimulating records throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

Later in his career, Oscar Peterson began to experience difficulties with arthritis which made playing more and more difficult. He eventually had to reduce the number of performances per year and, after a stroke in 1993, his public performances became extremely rare. In 1997 Oscar Peterson was inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame. He passed away in 2007 after having been in poor health for some time.

Here is a link to the Oscar Peterson trio playing Duke Ellington’s C Jam Blues on Danish television:

"C JAM BLUES"