Biography

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was born on August 15, 1925 in Montreal, Canada. His father, Daniel Peterson moved to Canada in 1917. After working for several years he moved from Halifax to Montreal where he met Oscars' mother, Kathleen Olivia John. She had left St. Kitts for domestic work in Mondreal.

Daniel Peterson was an avid musician and insisted that all five of his children studied music. Oscar began his musical carreer playing the trumpet at the age of five. He got Tubercolosis teh next yar and spent 14 months in the hospital. His lungs became quite damaged so he could no longer play the trumpet. Henceforth he focused his energy on playing the piano.

Oscar learned very quickly and it became evident he had enourmous talent. He practiced up to 14 hours a day. In his childhood, most of his influence was in classical music and his teachers were all of clasical music background. His father wanted Oscar to become a great classical pianist, but Oscars desire was in Jazz. His sister, Daisy supported Oscar and helped him get onto a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation competition. Oscar won the competition and earned himself a spot on a radio show where he played piano once a week.

His carreer then took off and he played with many of the greatest Jazz artist there were. Oscar became at home with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Roy Eldridge, Stan Getz and Charlie Parker, just to name a few.

In 1944 Oscar married his year long girlfreind by the name of Lillie Fraser.

By late 1947 Oscar was leading a trio at the Alberta Lounge in Montreal. A local radio station began to broadcast live from the Alberta once a week which is where Oscar was introduced to Norman Granz, the producer of Jazz at the Philharmonic. Norman heard the braodcast on the Radio and was quite impressed and told the cab driver to take him to the studio. Oscars life would change dramatically.

Norman Granz took Oscar to New York to play as a surprise guest at the Carnegie Hall performance of his Jazz at the Philharmonic. Oscar came up from the audience that night and played a duo with bassist Ray Brown which thrilled the audience and critics alike. Thus began Oscars's lifelong relationship with Mr. Granz.

Soon after his appearance at Carnegie Hall, Oscar joined the Jazz at the Philharmonic and began touring North America with the group. Oscar played with the group for a couple of years and then set up his own Trio. They worked incredibly hard and became the one of the best jazz trios in the world. Art soon met his idol while playing at a club in Washington DC. Oscar and Art Tatum soon became close freinds and played for each other on many occasions.

Oscar went through several people in his Trio, each group having a distinct feel and flavor. Oscar especially enjoyed playing with Ed Thigpen on drums. He describes this time as "...six years of unbelievable music."

In 1960, Oscar, opened the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, Ontario. The school is successfu but financial difficulties forced the doors to close after only three years of operation. During 1962 Oscar and the trio had an amazing year that resulted in the production of seven studio and four live albums within the year.

Oscar's first major composition ,Canadiana Suite, was released in 1964. He went on to make many more compositions and numerous albums both in his Trio and as a soloist. In 1993 Oscar suffered a serious strok which put him out for about 2 years. He did recover though and is still recording and composing new music.In 1997 he received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award, showcasing that he has really become one of the greatest Jazz Pianists of all time.