Oscar on tour with the Johnny Holmes Orchestra, 1947 © please view disclaimer

From 1943 to 1947, Oscar Peterson was the featured soloist with the Johnny Holmes Orchestra, a popular (and until then all-white) Montreal dance band. By 1945, he had made his first recordings for RCA Victor, after establishing contact with Hugh Joseph, the head of the company's Canadian division. His early recordings, particularly The Sheik of Araby and I Got Rhythm, with Bert Brown on bass and Frank Gariepy on drums, were very popular, selling several thousand each.

He continued recording with RCA Victor for four years, towards the end of which he played with Clarence Jones on drums and Austin Ozzie Roberts on bass.The trio also played at the Alberta Lounge between 1947 and 1949, with guitarist Benny Johnson periodically replacing Clarence Jones.

Rumours of the jazz sensation north of the border spread to the U.S. Saxophonist Coleman Hawkins said that he had heard about him as early as 1945. 3    Dizzie Gillespie told impresario Leonard Feather, "There's a pianist up here who's just too much. You&'ve never heard anything like it! We gotta put him in concert." 4 But in the 1940s, Leonard Feather was not prepared to take a risk on an unknown artist.

Then, in 1949, impresario Norman Granz came to Canada to see the jazz phenomenon for himself. So began the most important and longest professional relationship of Oscar Peterson's career. Later that year, Granz, now his manager, introduced him to the U.S. as a surprise guest in an all-star troupe of American musicians at a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert at Carnegie Hall, New York.

That brief appearance when Oscar was just 24 caused a sensation, launching an international jazz career of longevity and distinction.

© Oscar Peterson

After his Carnegie Hall appearance, Oscar and Granz returned to Montreal to "cool it and see what the reaction really is, and then plan it from there," said Granz. "I don't want you coming in and being just another saloon pianist." 5

Soon, Oscar returned to the U.S. to play the 'Bop' in New York City, with Major Holley on bass and Charlie Smith on drums. This trio, though successful, broke up after only one year. But Oscar Peterson was on a roll. By 1950, he was the resident pianist with Jazz at the Philharmonic and toured with the group until December 1952.

Herb Ellis, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown © please view disclaimer

Oscar Peterson's reputation was growing fast. He made his first recordings for Granz's label, Verve, in 1950, with Ray Brown as his bassist. Brown was to become a close friend and a stalwart of Oscar's working trio for the next 15 years. The third member of the trio was variously drummer Charlie Smith, guitarist Herb Ellis, guitarist Barney Kessel and drummer Ed Thigpen. The Peterson, Brown, Ellis trio (1953-1959) is considered the best trio assembled by Oscar, and the finest piano, bass, guitar group ever brought together. 6

By the mid 1960s, both Thigpen and Brown had left the trio. The next Peterson trio, with Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums, went on the road after only two months of rehearsal. It, too, was very successful. Drummer Bobby Durham, formerly of Duke Ellington's orchestra, later replaced Louis Hayes. This trio was reputed to be the tightest Peterson combo ever. 7

During the early 1970s, Oscar Peterson temporarily went solo, making a highly successful debut at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1972.

Ellis, Brown, Peterson reunited (Aug '95) © Arnold van Kampen (Netherlands). Reproduced with the permission of Arnold van Kampen

He also performed in a trio with Joe Pass and Niels -Henning Ørsted Pedersen. In the early 1990s, the Peterson, Brown, Ellis trio was reunited to tour and make a number of recordings including Live at the Blue Note. It was while performing at the Blue Note Club, New York in 1993 that Oscar Peterson suffered a stroke. Even so, he completed the concert although he had to cancel a European concert tour planned for the following summer.

Among the many artists with whom Oscar Peterson has worked during his career are: Roy Eldridge, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Charlie Parker, Joe Pass, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Sonny Stitt, Clark Terry, Ben Webster and Lester Young.

Footnotes

3 Lees, Gene.   The Will to Swing.   Rocklin, California, Prima Publishing. & Communications, 1990. p. 67
4 Palmer, Richard.   Oscar Peterson.   Hippocrene Books: New York, 1984, p. 17
5 Ibid., p. 20
6 Ibid., p. 25
7 Ibid., p. 39

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