Happy 99th Birthday to Oscar Peterson

Published: 08 Aug 2024

On 15^th August 2024, virtuosic Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson would have turned 99 years old – so, to celebrate almost a century of this sensational musician, band leader Mike Paul-Smith takes a look at some great Oscar Peterson recordings. 

 

“Whatever you do, don’t sit down at the piano after Oscar Peterson”

Duke Ellington

  

Night Train

First up in my selection of favourite Oscar Peterson recordings is Night Train, from the Verve Records album of the same name recorded in 1962. The album featured what was probably Oscar Peterson’s most famous trio – Oscar on piano, Ray Brown on double bass, and Ed Thigpen on drums. 

I’ve chosen this recording because it’s hard to overstate what an influential album Night Train this has become. There are a handful of jazz albums which tend to be the first that young musicians hear, which inspire them to explore jazz music in more detail (another example would be the Ella & Louis albums, which Oscar also plays on). I would hazard a guess that Night Train has inspired tens of thousands of pianists to have a go at jazz, and every time I hear any of the songs from it, I remember when I first heard the album when I must have been 13 or 14 years old. I didn't realise that the piano could do things like that, and decided to give jazz a go... and I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to imitate Oscar Peterson ever since.

(Incidentally, the song Night Train is based on a Duke Ellington composition called Happy Go Lucky Local – which is definitely worth a listen as well!)

 

Hymn to Freedom

Also on the Night Train album is an Oscar Peterson original composition, Hymn to Freedom – you can hear a live version of the song below.

Oscar composed this gospel song at the suggestion of Norman Granz, his manager and lifelong friend, who was also the owner of Verve Records - and a very important figure in Oscar's life and career.

Oscar titled the song in homage to Martin Luther King, Jr., and once lyrics were added by Harriette Hamilton, it became the unofficial anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. As you’ll see by watching the video, you don’t need to hear the words to know that this is stirring and spiritual song is an important one – the music really does all of the talking.

 

Count Basie & Oscar Peterson

It’s hard to imagine two more different pianists than Oscar Peterson – virtuosic, master of all the styles – and Count Basie, who never played a thousand notes when just one would do.

Despite this – or maybe because of it – when the two came together, as they did for a British television special in 1975, magic happened. 

Here are the two geniuses of jazz piano in concert - jump to 34:10 to hear them talking about the great Art Tatum (who was probably Oscar's main pianistic inspiration, and also a personal friend) before the two play Basie’s Jumpin’ at the Woodside.

 

Oscar Sings – The Vocal Styling Of Oscar Peterson

I vividly remember hearing this recording of Nat King Cole singing the gorgeous ballad Polkadots and Moonbeams for the first time:

And then I was told it wasn’t Nat singing… it was Oscar.

I genuinely didn't believe it, and had to check for myself. 

Their voices really were extraordinarily similar, and I’m absolutely certain that Oscar could have risen to fame as a jazz vocalist if he had wanted to (just like I’m absolutely sure that Nat would be remembered as a pianist today even if he had never sung a word into a microphone). 

According to multiple historical sources, Nat and Oscar made an agreement with each other in the early 1950s – that Oscar would stick to piano playing, and Nat would stick to singing.

Clearly these two jazz greats had a huge amount of respect for each other and when Nat died in 1965, aged just 45, Oscar recorded a beautiful album – on which he did once again sing – called With Respect To Nat, where he was joined by guitarist Ed Thigpen and bassist Ray Brown in a line-up reminiscent of the great King Cole Trio. It’s a must-listen-to album for fans of either musician.

 

Canadiana Suite

Oscar Peterson was born in Montreal, Canada, the son of Caribbean immigrants. It was not the most typical background for a jazz musician – although interestingly Oscar Peterson was in the same high-school class as future trumpet star Maynard Ferguson.  

Oscar composed an album of songs inspired by his homeland titled Canadiana Suite, which is full of beautiful, evocative music. 

 

Have You Met Miss Jones

I love the Oscar album We Get Requests. I can't think of a song that swings at a slower tempo than Oscar's trio playing Have You Met Miss Jones.

 

Lush Life

Oscar Peterson was managed by Norman Granz, who also managed Ella Fitzgerald and signed a huge array of jazz talent to his record labels. As a result, Oscar is an accompanist on a huge number of seminal jazz recordings. 

I’ve written before about the version of Billy Strayhorn's Lush Life Oscar recorded with Ella – I think it’s a real masterclass in how a pianist should accompany the singer, never distracting from them (apart perhaps from in the first few bars, where Oscar gives Ella a symphonic introduction). Listen particularly for Oscar’s response to Ella’s “jazz and cocktails” at 00:30. 

 

 

Oscar Peterson was born on 15 August 1925 and died on 24 December 2007. Read Steve Voce's obituary here for insights into his life, and for a more detailed biography check out Gene Lees' book Oscar Peterson: The Will to Swing.

Most of the recordings and albums mentioned in this article can be heard on the Spotify playlist below. 

 

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