Jazz Articles about Oscar Peterson

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Oscar Peterson Trio: Tenderly

by AAJ Staff
October 20, 2002

Listening to pianist Oscar Peterson always triggers a profound sense of nostagia. The very first jazz recording I ever owned was a Peterson trio disc, long since lost to the winds. The memory sticks, though. Oscar Peterson has made a huge number of recordings in a variety of settings, from solo to orchestral, from piano to clavichord. His swinging style remains readily recognizable, owing obvious debts (as many critics have noted) to the crispy romps of Art Tatum and the ...

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Oscar Peterson: Solo

by C. Michael Bailey
October 10, 2002

Canada's (and our) treasure...

It is gratifying when previously unreleased material from a consistently fine artist like Oscar Peterson reaches the digital impression of the compact disc. Impresario Norman Granz was fortunate to have the talent of Mr. Peterson on his Clef, Verve, and Pablo labels over the period of 1950 to 1986. Having appeared on hundreds of recordings might beg the question, "Does the world need one more Oscar Peterson?" The answer is a resounding "YES," considering that the ...

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Oscar Peterson: Oscar's Ballads

by AAJ Staff
May 1, 2001

With Oscar's Ballads, we are reminded that, behind Oscar Peterson's blazing swing--with his furious pace that launched a thousand riffs, not to mention hundreds of imitators--Peterson's solo construction and compositional talent rely on logically appealing and personalized modulations. Underlying his signature technique, Peterson lays down a foundation of harmonic richness and internal chord movement that usually were overlooked as audiences were wowed by his technical mastery and percussive force. Oscar's Ballads is a compilation from a number of ...

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Oscar Peterson: On the Town

by David Rickert
May 1, 2001

Oscar Peterson is one of the musicians responsible for bringing jazz to a wider audience, and it's easy to understand why from listening to any of his instantly appealing records. He took the knuckle-busting runs of Art Tatum and wedded them to the delicate approach of Nat King Cole in a series of accomplished trio recordings, most of which are still widely available today. Not much of a pioneer, Peterson was content to play familiar songs at a consistently high ...

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Oscar Peterson: On the Town

by David Rickert
March 1, 2001

Oscar Peterson is one of the musicians responsible for bringing jazz to a wider audience, and it's easy to understand why from listening to any of his instantly appealing records. He took the knuckle-busting runs of Art Tatum and wedded them to the delicate approach of Nat King Cole in a series of accomplished trio recordings, most of which are still widely available today. Not much of a pioneer, Peterson was content to play familiar songs at a consistently high ...

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Oscar Peterson: Trail Of Dreams: A Canadian Suite

by AAJ Staff
December 1, 2000

As musicians mature, it seems they return to their original sources of musical inspiration, as David Sanchez did with Melaza or Danilo Pérez did with Motherland or Gonzalo Rubalcaba did with Antiguo. Well, Oscar Peterson attained maturity quite a while ago, and he wrote about his native country, Canada, in the 1960’s when he recorded Canadiana: Fields Of Endless Day. While Peterson’s earlier musical tribute to his country addressed the topic of Canada’s refuge for blacks escaping slavery through the ...

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Oscar Peterson (OJC: Night Child

by Douglas Payne
January 1, 2000

This 1979 quartet recording makes an ideal blindfold test for the most practiced of jazz piano admirers. From the “oscillating Martianisms" on electric piano of the moody opening track, “Solar Winds," to the rollicking cop-show funk (!) of “Teenager," it would be difficult to name - or convince the listener - that this is Oscar Peterson. Indeed, it is. Even more surprisingly, it is one of those super- rare and highly welcome all-Peterson programs - which makes it ...