Oscar Peterson, greatest jazz pianist of all time, dies at age 82
If you’re a jazz piano fan, you may already have heard the sad news: Oscar Peterson died today at the age of 82.
I only regret that I never saw Peterson play in a live concert. I have probably more than 20 of his CDs, ranging from remastered versions of his older stuff from the 1950s to more recent live concerts in Paris from the 1990s. If you ever heard Peterson, especially if you ever got to watch him either live or on television, you know why I say he was the greatest of all jazz pianists. He dominated the keyboard. He made the keyboard come alive. He played so well and so majestically that it almost wasn’t human — you’d swear as you listened and watched him that the piano had disappeared and the music was coming straight from his soul, through his heart, into his hands and on into your innermost being. His artistry fills you with unspeakable joy that God has created such a thing as jazz piano music.
I swear, watching and listening to Oscar Peterson, that the man must have had at least eight fingers on each hand to totally control the keyboard as he did.
We who loved his music so will sorely miss Oscar Peterson. But, oh the joy, that he played among us and left such a majestic body of music behind!
Technorati Tags: Oscar Peterson, jazz piano, greatest jazz pianist, just a guy who reads the papers
December 24th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
That is sad that he is gone but good that he seemed to have lived his dream. What a talent he had!
December 27th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
[...] places — including YouTube — where you can find useful, usable stuff. I recently posted a tribute to jazz pianist Oscar Peterson on one of my other blogs. I think it was the first time I’ve ever put a YouTube video in a blog post. It was fun and [...]