He would later admit that “Tatum scared me to death”. Initially after hearing a record by the great Art Tatum as a youngster, Peterson became disillusioned about his ability and did not touch the piano for several weeks. His studies were predominantly in classical music, but the young pianist developed an interest in traditional jazz and boogie woogie piano.Įarly influences were Nat King Cole, Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum. A couple of years later, aged just seven he contracted tuberculous which ended his trumpet playing forcing him to focus all his energies on the piano.

He did this not by dumbing down of the music for the masses, but purely by his own imaginative interpretations of some of the popular compositions of the Great American Songbook and classic jazz standards.īorn in Montreal, Québec in August 1925 and by the age of five was learning to play both trumpet and piano. Through his extremely popular bands, especially his trios, Peterson seemed to have the knack of making his jazz accessible without diluting content or the integrity of music. We take a look at the story behind this killer jazz album.Ĭanadian born, Oscar Peterson is not only one of the giants of the music but perhaps did more to bring jazz to a wider audience than most.

Oscar Peterson Hymn To Freedom Pdf