Oscar Peterson

Apart from his work with the trio, which continued over the years in various incarnations, Peterson served as a sensitive accompanist to jazz legends Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and others in concert and on recordings. He began performing solo in the 1970s while continuing to appear with small ensembles. In addition to his brilliant improvising on jazz standards, he has also composed original tunes and larger works, such as his 1964 "Canadiana Suite" and music for several films. And he has long been active as an educator, serving as adjunct professor at York University in Toronto and leading seminars in jazz piano.

Peterson's rigorous touring schedule has often taken him to Europe, and his trio has included musicians from Britain, Denmark and Sweden. In the 1960s and '70s, he recorded numerous albums in Germany for a record label owned by a German millionaire who was keenly interested in his music. While he occasionally deplores the commercialization of jazz in North America, Peterson has said that the situation is better in Europe and Japan, where jazz has not been watered down to sell to a broader audience.

Peterson's love affair with jazz really took off in the 1950s. The Oscar Peterson Trio made a name for itself with its sophisticated and high-energy ensemble work, particularly from 1953 to 1958, when the trio included bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Herb Ellis. In the best tradition of jazz improvisation, each challenged the others to new heights of musical achievement while still working together smoothly as a group, as their classic 1956 recording "Live at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival" proves.

"I've never said it aloud before, but that was the best trio I've ever known," Peterson told an interviewer in 1990, when the three got back together to tour and record "The Legendary Oscar Peterson Trio: Live at the Blue Note" in New York. His high opinion of the trio was obviously shared by others: the recording won the Grammy for Best Jazz Group Instrumental Performance, one of seven Grammys Peterson has been awarded for his recordings.

Apart from his work with the trio, which continued over the years in various incarnations, Peterson served as a sensitive accompanist to jazz legends Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and others in concert and on recordings. He began performing solo in the 1970s while continuing to appear with small ensembles. In addition to his brilliant improvising on jazz standards, he has also composed original tunes and larger works, such as his 1964 "Canadiana Suite" and music for several films. And he has long been active as an educator, serving as adjunct professor at York University in Toronto and leading seminars in jazz piano.

Peterson's rigorous touring schedule has often taken him to Europe, and his trio has included musicians from Britain, Denmark and Sweden. In the 1960s and '70s, he recorded numerous albums in Germany for a record label owned by a German millionaire who was keenly interested in his music. While he occasionally deplores the commercialization of jazz in North America, Peterson has said that the situation is better in Europe and Japan, where jazz has not been watered down to sell to a broader audience.

A devastating personal setback

During a 1993 engagement at the Blue Note jazz club, Peterson noticed that something was wrong with his left hand: his fingers weren't as agile on the keys as usual. At home in Toronto the next day, he was told after a medical exam that he had suffered a stroke. "It was strange. I don't remember any pain or any particular discomfort other than the way the fingers on my left hand reacted," Peterson said later.

But for a pianist known for his complete command of the keyboard, that was devastating. Peterson did not require hospitalization, but he needed hours of physical therapy to regain enough muscular strength and control to be able to use his left hand again. And along with the physical disability came the psychological blow of being unable to do what he loved and was best at. After two years, though, he was back in a big way, releasing seven new recordings by 1999 and touring Europe in 1995 and - to celebrate his 75th birthday - in 2000.

As befits a living legend, Peterson has an impressive collection of awards to his name, from his seven Grammys and 16 (at last count) honorary doctorates to the 1993 Glenn Gould Prize for excellence in jazz, the 1997 Grammy for Lifetime Achievement, the 1997 International Jazz Hall of Fame Award, the 1999 Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association for lifetime achievement, UNESCO's 2000 International Music Prize for his career as jazz pianist and composer, and for his work to advance human rights, and the 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Urban Music Association of Canada.

Gretchen Wiesehan