Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist, virtuoso and composer who was born in Montreal Quebec, Canada to immigrants from the West Indies. Oscar Peterson grew up with his family in the Little Burgundy neighbourhood in Montreal. It was in this predominantly Black neighbourhood that he encountered the jazz culture. His father, who worked as a porter for the Canadian Pacific Railway, began teaching him to play piano at the age of five helping him to hone in on his skills.
Duke Ellington affectionately called Oscar Peterson the “Maharaja Of The Keyboard”, however his friends called him “O.P.” and in the jazz community he was also known as “The King of Inside Swing”. [Read more…]