Austria 19.11.2003
The Canadian jazz pianist and composer Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was born on August 15, 1925, in Montreal. He died on December 23, 2007, in Mississauga. Oscar Peterson would have turned 100 in August 2025.
Oscar Peterson began piano lessons at the age of six with his sister Daisy. At 14, he won an amateur competition that made him so popular that he earned his own local radio show. As a member of the Johnny Holmes Orchestra, he began learning composing and arranging in 1944 and formed his
Oscar Peterson began piano lessons at the age of six with his sister Daisy. At 14, he won an amateur competition that made him so popular that he earned his own local radio show. As a member of the Johnny Holmes Orchestra, he began learning composing and arranging in 1944 and formed his
From the mid-1950s onwards, Oscar Peterson gave numerous concerts with well-known jazz greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Quincy Jones, Dizzy Gillespie and the Modern Jazz Quartet. In the late 1960s, he increasingly appeared as a soloist. Oscar Peterson is considered one of the most successful jazz pianists of all time. In his 65-year career, he played at thousands of concerts and produced well over 100 albums. His fame is also reflected in the seven Grammys he received between 1975 and 1991. In 1978, he was one of the first two artists to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and in 1993 he was awarded the Glenn Gould Lifetime Achievement Award.
Canada 15.8.2005
The video features Oscar Peterson with John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra performing
“Body and Soul” composed by John W. Green. The recording was made during a television show
on July 13, 1980.