20 Amazing facts about Oscar Peterson

20 Amazing Facts about Oscar Peterson

*Originally published by Kilonzo on July 2022 and Updated by Vanessa R on June 2023 and Updated by Vanessa R in January 2024

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was born on the 15th of August 1925. He was known for his mesmerizing solo technique as a virtuoso jazz pianist and composer.

He was given many nicknames for his craftsmanship like The Maharaja of the Keyboard, simply O.P., and informally The King of Inside Swing.

He has been awarded numerous laurels for his work like the seven Grammy Awards and The lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy among many others.

He is considered one of history’s most phenomenally successful jazz pianists releasing over 200 recordings. He has also won several Grammy awards and the revered lifetime achievement award.

Here are 20 amazing facts about Oscar Peterson.

1. He has been awarded three prestigious honours

Oscar Peterson has accumulated numerous accolades in his career. He is recognized all over Canada by being honoured with the country’s three most esteemed awards.

First  The order of Canada which is Canada’s highest civilian honor, with membership awarded to recognize the lifetime contributions made by Canadians and non- Canadians who made a major difference to Canada by their actions.

Second is the national order of Quebec which is the highest honor in Quebec administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honor current or former Quebec residents for conspicuous achievements in any field.

The third is the order of Ontario which is the province’s highest civilian honour for Ontarians who have shown the highest level of excellence and achievement in any field and impact has left a lasting legacy in the province.

2. He learned the art of craft from his father

Oscar grew up in the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy in Montreal which was a predominantly black neighbourhood where he encountered the culture and rhythm of jazz.

He began his music career at the tender age of five for trumpets and piano before he got ill, preventing him from playing the trumpet.

His first music teacher was his father Daniel Peterson. Daniel was an amateur trumpeter and pianist but worked as a porter for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

He worked hard in his field and trained his children in this manner. He would give his children assignments before leaving for his trip to the railway to train on the piano.

Oscar reminisced as he told his biographer that his father left them with different tasks pianistically to learn before he got back. This in turn helped Oscar train vehemently in his craft.

3. He was a composer and teacher

Peterson was not only a classical jazz pianist he was also a composer and a teacher. He taught at the Advanced School of Contemporary Music for five years.

He had started and headed the institution with associates teaching piano and improvisation. 

The institute was later closed since Oscar and his associates were called to tour to perform their pieces and there was no funding to keep the school afloat.

Peterson later mentored the jazz program at York University where he published jazz piano etudes for practice while persuading his students to study music from legends like Johann Sebastian Bach.

He mentored and taught many successful pianists like Benny Green and Oliver Jones. In addition, he was the chancellor of the university for several years where he oversaw the music programs.

4. He used to practice obsessively

Oscar Peterson with bass accompaniment. Photo by Hans Bernhard. Wikimedia Commons

Oscar was a very disciplined and dedicated pianist and composer. He took his craft very seriously and spent all his time practicing and nurturing his art.

He acquired his drive and sense of responsibility from his father. He explained in his biography that he used to practice from nine a.m. to seven-thirty p.m. 

He only took breaks for an hour, then practiced, then went forward to practice for the next six hours.

Peterson claimed he practiced so late into the night his mother had to drag him to sleep so that the family could sleep.

This constant practice cultivated his technique which led to his brilliant musical creative prowess. Only in his later years did he decrease his piano practice to one or two hours daily.  

5. His manager stood up for him against segregation

Oscar Peterson at the Jazz philharmonic. Photo Unknown author. Wikimedia Commons

Oscar has collaborated with numerous individuals in his career like his manager.

His manager Norman Granz introduced him to the Ney York City Jazz Philharmonic concert at Carnegie Hall.

 He had come to meet Oscar after hearing him play on the radio on his way to the airport and insisted that the cab driver take him to the club he played at. 

Granz also supported and stood up for Peterson against a gun-toting Southern policeman who wanted to stop them from using white-only taxis.

Peterson praised Norman for his actions during the segregationist south US era from the 1950- to the 1960s of black jazz musicians.

6. He had health complications from his youth

Oscar was a great musical icon who achieved great heights with his art he still did not let this limit him. 

He suffered from a bout of tuberculosis that prevented him from playing the trumpet at the age of five. He also suffered from arthritis in his youth that caused him trouble buttoning his shirt in his later years.

He was a large man who had difficulty with his mobility. He also had a hip replacement because of this that was successful but did not improve his mobility.

In 1993 he had a stroke that weakened his left side that caused him to leave work for two years in the same year he was offered the position of Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario which he declined due to ill health.

Although he regained some dexterity in his left hand he was unable to play the piano as before but gained fame after his friend and politician Bob Rae who dabbled with the piano claimed he played as well with one hand as anyone with two hands.  

He later died due to kidney failure at his home in Mississauga, Ontario on 23rd December 2007.

7. He dropped out of high school

Peterson practised the piano from the age of five. After being trained by his father in the art he trained vehemently.

At age nine he played the piano with a degree of control that impressed musical professionals and at age fourteen he won the national music competition that was organized by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

This victory gained him fame which made him drop out of high school in Montreal.

He then played in a band with Maynard Ferguson and became a professional pianist starring in a weekly radio show playing at hotels and music halls.

In addition, he was also a member of the Johnny Holmes orchestra joined a trio, and recorded for Victor Records. When he reached his 20s, he had developed a reputation as an inventive technically and melodically brilliant pianist.

8. His first instructor was his sister

Oscar Peterson with his sister, Daisy. Photo by Library and Archives Canada. Wikimedia Commons

Peterson credited his sister in his biography he credited his sister who also dabbled in the music industry. They both learned after the tutelage of their father.

His sister was a piano teacher that made a great impact on several Canadian jazz musicians who rose to great fame.

She also mentored Oscar as she had a unique style that to her art that Peterson respected. Under her tutelage, he expanded his classic piano training broadening his range and mastering the core classical pianism from Johann Sebastian Bach’s fugues and scales to preludes.

9. He was awarded a lifetime achievement award

Oscar had won numerous awards in his lifetime. He has achieved  numerous citations for best jazz pianist from Contemporary Keyboard, Down Beat, and Playboy, and officer of the Order of Arts and Letters, France in 1989 among others.

One other accolade he has achieved is the esteemed Grammy lifetime achievement award given to personnel that has made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance.

10. Oscar is considered one of history’s great jazz players

Peterson and Ørsted in Hamburg. Photo by Heinrich Klaffs. Wikimedia Commons

Oscar gained great fame around 1972 when he had begun to appear with increasing frequency as a concert soloist.

He became one of the most highly praised of all jazz performers in the country. He worked in the television industry producing his series in 1974 and 1978.

He also recorded producing as many as five or six albums a year which was a great number at the period of 1970 –  the 1980s.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he greatly reduced his touring schedule to focus more on writing and composing etudes.

He also developed an interest in electronic instruments and started a large collection of equipment for use as both a mechanical aid in creating film scores and fresh new inspiration for some of his musical ideas.

11. 200 albums were released in the span of several decades

Heinrich Klaffs’, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Almost 200 albums were released over several decades throughout the impressive career of Oscar Peterson, which was defined by a spectacular record. It was o apparent that he was a skilled jazz pianist and composer that was one of a kind!

Despite the fact that he dropped out of school when it came to jazz he knew how to get an audience going, from swinging large band compositions to private solo concerts it was obvious that he was a creative genius. One good thing about his music is how well he managed to include a variety of instruments and experimented with guest musicians. 

12. Peterson inspired aspiring musicians by imparting his skills and experience to them

As a teacher at the Advanced School of Modern Music, Oscar Peterson showed his commitment to education. Peterson shared his knowledge and experience with aspiring musicians by encouraging them to reach new heights as he used his own experience and musical ability to push them.

His teaching methods emphasised technique, improvisation and finding one’s own musical voice. He was very keen on passing on the jazz tradition to the next generations which he did successfully. 

13. He was interested in photography

Oscar Peterson was a gifted musician, but he also had a strong passion for photography. On his tours and travels, he carried a camera with him and used it to record unscripted moments of his friends, fellow musicians, and interesting places. Peterson’s love of photography gave him the opportunity to express his artistic vision in other ways other than music.

14. He got married 4 times

IISG, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

We don’t have much information about why he married 4 times but what we do know is that he married 4 times and had three children with three of his wives. He stayed with his last wife until his death in 2007 which confirms that he must have been happier with his final wife. 

15. Oscar Peterson had a remarkable  memory

Oscar Peterson was an extraordinary jazz pianist who had a fantastic memory of music. He was able to remember music from his big music collection with remarkable accuracy. It is said that Peterson was able to effortlessly recreate complete musical compositions note for note, even decades after the original performances or recordings. 

Peterson is seen as one of the greatest jazz pianists in history. Other legends like Duke Ellington described him as the “Maharaja of the keyboard” while his friends referred to him simply as “O.P” and every jazz expert fan would describe him as “the King of inside swing”.

16. Oscar Peterson performed at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953

Rob Mieremet / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Oscar Peterson’s remarkable talent earned him the distinction of performing at the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The new Queen specifically requested the jazz pianist be part of a special concert programme planned for her coronation festivities. At just 27 years old, Peterson impressed the royal audience with his virtuosic playing and swing style, which enthralled jazz fans worldwide. Sharing his gift at such a historic global event so early in his career marked one highlight of Peterson’s decades of acclaim.

17. He incorporated many musical styles into jazz

Throughout his influential career, Peterson incorporated diverse musical influences into the jazz form, experimenting with fusions of classical, blues, swing, bebop, and more. He pioneered complex techniques to blend jazz piano with other genres, creating unique stylistic syntheses. This multi-genre approach allowed Peterson to develop an innovative sound that paid homage to jazz tradition while expanding its boundaries. His creativity and voice on the piano brought fresh perspectives to jazz.

18. Peterson learned to play trumpet and violin before settling on piano

Though the piano ultimately became his signature instrument, Peterson initially trained on both the trumpet and violin. His well-rounded musical education helped train his exceptional ear for tone, rhythm, and melody. Mastering multiple instruments during his formative years also lent unique insight into orchestration and arrangement techniques that informed his later piano playing. Peterson thus built a strong multi-instrumental foundation before focusing his energies predominately on the piano.

19. In the 1970s, he formed a jazz trio with Joe Pass and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen

Heinrich Klaffs’, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In addition to his prolific solo work, Peterson also formed the famous Oscar Peterson Trio in the 1970s with guitarist Joe Pass and bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. This ensemble produced a series of albums combining their esteemed talents. Blending Peterson’s piano mastery with Pass and Pedersen’s bright sounds resulted in a collaborative energy that became a new creative outlet for Peterson. The trio setting allowed him to exchange ideas with peer greats at the height of their abilities.

20. Peterson also composed music for TV and films later in his career

Peterson is best known as a great jazz piano player. But later in his long career, he also wrote music for TV and movies. In the 1980s and 1990s, Peterson made scores and songs for some Charlie Brown Peanuts cartoons. His piano melodies were catchy and jazzy, matching the Peanuts characters’ quirky personalities. By putting his music in unconventional places beyond jazz, Peterson found new ways of sharing his creative talents. Writing music for Peanuts let this extraordinarily talented artist try composing in an unexpected format outside of his usual piano work.