Home » Jazz Articles » Oscar Peterson
Jazz Articles about Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson: Unmistakable
by Jack Bowers
The first thing Unmistakable on this recording is the pianist: it can only be the incomparable Oscar Peterson, who, if not the greatest jazz pianist who ever lived, is certainly among the top four or five. This scrapbook, however, is not, strictly speaking, a performance by Peterson but a “re-performance," taken from DVDs of three concerts--one from the mid-'70s, the others from the early '80s--and re-recorded using the Zenph Sound Innovations re-performance system. Peterson's original performances are electronically and digitally ...
Continue ReadingTad Hershorn: Norman Granz - The Man Who Used Jazz For Justice
by Ian Patterson
Norman Granz: The Man Who Used Jazz For Justice Tad Hershorn Hardcover; 488 pages ISBN: 9780520267824 University of California Press 2011 That this is the first comprehensive biography on groundbreaking jazz impresario Norman Granz (1918-2001) says much about the man's private nature. Granz shied away from interviews and never introduced himself to audiences at the concerts he emceed. Granz emerges from Hershorn's pages as a hugely charismatic figure, ...
Continue ReadingOscar Peterson: Debut: The Clef / Mercury Duo Recordings 1949-1951
by Ken Dryden
Oscar PetersonDebut: The Clef / Mercury Duo Recordings 1949-1951Verve Music Group2010
Piano giant Oscar Peterson's professional career spanned approximately 60 years and produced a prolific amount of recordings, though most of what he waxed during his first two decades was for labels launched by jazz impresario Norman Granz. But Peterson's early duo recordings have been neglected during the CD era until this comprehensive, three-CD set of his duets with Ray Brown or Major Holley ...
Continue ReadingOscar Peterson: The Quintessence & Oscar Peterson and Nelson Riddle
by Graham L. Flanagan
Oscar PetersonThe QuintessenceFremeaux2009 Oscar Peterson and Nelson RiddleOscar Peterson/Nelson RiddleRecord Label #2Year This month marks the two-year anniversary of Oscar Peterson's passing. The jazz legend continued to perform live until a year before he died at 82. While music lovers may be deprived of hearing him play at clubs and concert halls, his legacy ...
Continue ReadingOscar Peterson: The Complete Clef/Mercury Studio Sessions of the Oscar Peterson Trio (1951-1953)
by Michael Steinman
Oscar Peterson The Complete Clef/Mercury Studio Recordings of The Oscar Peterson Trio (1951-1953) Mosaic Records 2008
The late Oscar Peterson was technically dazzling, harmonically sophisticated and indefatigably rhythmic. His virtuosic command of the piano has never been questioned. Because of Norman Granz' enthusiasm for his work, Peterson recorded prolifically as soloist and sideman as well as the leader of his own trio. Patterned after Nat Cole's trio, this group featured bassist Ray ...
Continue ReadingJazz Icons Series 3: Oscar Peterson Live '63, '64 and '65
by C. Michael Bailey
Oscar Peterson Jazz Icons Series 3: Live '63, '64 and '65 Jazz Icons 2008
Oscar Peterson (1925-2007) had but one peer on jazz piano, and that was Art Tatum. While greatly influenced by Tatum, Peterson nevertheless developed into the superior blues player of the two. A veteran of Norman Granz's Jazz At The Philharmonic concerts before the end of the '50s, Peterson would evolve through the 1950s to lead ... Continue ReadingOscar Peterson: Oscar Peterson: The Complete Clef/Mercury Studio Recordings of The Oscar Peterson Trio (1951-1953)
by Samuel Chell
How do you criticize pianist Oscar Peterson? The two primary meanings of such a question expose the divide among those who must confront his talent--and, like it or not, no musician or supporter of the music can duck the issues raised by the most prolifically recorded pianist in jazz history. To the one camp, Peterson's playing represents a sort of gold standard and is therefore beyond criticism; to the other side, his inarguable virtuosity and flawless technique reduce him to ...
Continue Reading
