It seems that every time I choose to feature a jazz legend my thought immediately turn to my father. Why? Easily understood my father was a longtime jazz musician himself. He was proud of whatever I accomplished in music. I spoke with him about every project and he always had good advice. He was still alive when I started to publish the Florida Music Letter. My father loved everything about the publication and always offered quality input. I’m sorry he never got to see Weekly Music Commentary. I’m sure he would have loved every post, as many of the ideas I have for posts come from conversations or his viewpoint of music. This week would have been one that really brought a smile to his face. I never give anyone a preview of an upcoming post, but I’m sure I would have told him I was planning to feature Oscar Peterson. The stories would start to flow about one of his favorite jazz musicians.
My father believed that Oscar Peterson was the best pianist of his time. Of course there were many others but that was his opinion. However, it was not his opinion alone. Oscar Peterson was called the “Maharaja of the keyboard” by Duke Ellington, and informally in the jazz community as “the King of inside swing”. Yes, Peterson was an easy choice for Black History Month. I hope after reading this post you too, understand his place in musical history.
Peterson was born in Montreal, Quebec, to immigrants from the West Indies; his father worked as a porter for Canadian Pacific Railway. Peterson grew up in the neighborhood of Little Burgundy in Montreal. It was in this predominantly black neighborhood that he encountered the jazz culture. At the age of five, Peterson began honing his skills on trumpet and piano, but a bout of tuberculosis when he was seven prevented him from playing the trumpet again, so 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 him classical piano. Peterson was persistent at practicing scales and classical études.
As a child, Peterson studied with Hungarian-born pianist Paul de Marky, a student of István Thomán, who was himself a pupil of Franz Liszt, so his early training was predominantly based on classical piano. But he was captivated by traditional jazz and boogie-woogie and learned several ragtime pieces. He was called “the Brown Bomber of the Boogie-Woogie”.
At the age of nine Peterson played piano with a degree of control that impressed professional musicians. For many years his piano studies included four to six hours of daily practice. Only in his later years did he decrease his practice to one or two hours daily.
Many of you reading this post are musicians, some professional musicians. Therefore, when you read about practice time you understand that it is an integral part of the learning process. Four hours of intense, practice of classical studies is tough indeed. It is helpful. It was not until I went to college and studied music that I fully understood what my father had been telling me all along. The goal was to become a well-rounded musician. That sums up most of the greats, but certainly made Oscar Peterson what he later became.
In 1940, at fourteen years of age, he won the national music competition organized by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. After that victory, he dropped out of the High School of Montreal, where he played in a band with Maynard Ferguson. He became a professional pianist, starring in a weekly radio show and playing at hotels and music halls. In his teens he was a member of the Johnny Holmes Orchestra. From 1945 to 1949 he worked in a trio and recorded for Victor Records. He gravitated toward boogie-woogie and swing with a particular fondness for Nat King Cole and Teddy Wilson.
In a cab on the way to the Montreal airport, Norman Granz heard a radio program broadcasting from a local club. He was so impressed that he told the driver to take him to the club so he could meet the pianist. In 1949 he introduced Peterson in New York City at a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert at Carnegie Hall. He remained Peterson’s manager for most of his career. This was more than a managerial relationship; Peterson praised Granz for standing up for him and other black jazz musicians in the segregationist south of the 1950s and 1960s.
It was around this time that Peterson started playing with great double bassist Ray Brown. Two years later they added guitarist Barney Kessel. Then Herb Ellis stepped in after Kessel grew weary of touring. The trio remained together from 1953 to 1958, often touring with Jazz at the Philharmonic. Peterson considered the trio with Brown and Ellis “the most stimulating” and productive setting for public performances and studio recordings. These were the recordings that my father chose as my introduction to Oscar Peterson.
Of course throughout the years Peterson performed and recorded with just about every big name in jazz. He established himself as one of the top pianist in jazz and stayed on that pedestal for many years. It’s no coincidence that Duke Ellington referred to him as the Maharaja of the keyboard. Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a “great ruler”, “great king” or “high king”. It’s a fitting title for someone who worked hard to become extremely proficient at his craft. However, Peterson had his doubts. Especially when it came to the great Art Tatum.
After his father played a record of Tatum’s “Tiger Rag”, he was intimidated and disillusioned, quitting the piano for several weeks. “Tatum scared me to death,” he said, and was “never cocky again” about his ability at the piano. Tatum was a model for Peterson’s musicianship during the 1940s and 1950s. Tatum and Peterson became good friends, although Peterson was always shy about being compared with Tatum and rarely played the piano in Tatum’s presence.
For many fans and fellow musicians, including my father, Peterson was their top choice. While everyone understood the greatness of Art Tatum, most considered Oscar Peterson that King of the time, or Maharaja.
I’m sure there are many who might be ready for a debate, but not me. There were, and still are some very good pianist in the world. I just feel that there is no way to discount the legend that is Oscar Peterson. There is so much more that could be said about Oscar Peterson, but that would take a book. This is a blog post with limited space. Nevertheless, I am very happy to use this opportunity to feature another great artist for 2021 Black History Month.