Jazz legend Oscar Peterson dies at 82

TORONTO — Oscar Peterson, whose early talent, speedy fingers and musical genius made him one of the world's best known jazz pianists, has died. He was 82.

Mr. Peterson died at his home in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga on Sunday, said Oliver Jones, a family friend and jazz musician. The cause of death was kidney failure, said Mississauga's mayor, Hazel McCallion.

During an illustrious career spanning seven decades, Mr. Peterson played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie.

His impressive collection of awards includes all of Canada's highest honors, such as the Order of Canada, as well as seven Grammys and a Grammy for lifetime achievement in 1997.

His growing stature was reflected in the admiration of his peers. Duke Ellington referred to him as "Maharajah of the keyboard," while Count Basie once said "Oscar Peterson plays the best ivory box I've ever heard."

Herbie Hancock, another legendary jazz pianist, said his impact was profound.

"Oscar Peterson redefined swing for modern jazz pianists for the latter half of the 20th century," Hancock said. "I consider him the major influence that formed my roots in jazz piano playing. ... No one will ever be able to take his place."

Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Eldar Djangirov said he wouldn't have been a musician if he hadn't heard Mr. Peterson play. "He would play things with one hand that most piano players couldn't do with both of their hands."

Speed, endurance, articulation and imagination — Mr. Peterson embodied them in one perpetually explosive package, and he somehow made it look easy, as is evident in loads of clips on YouTube.

It was in Toronto that jazz producer-impresario Norman Granz discovered Mr. Peterson in 1949, pretty much by accident. Granz, in Toronto to promote an upcoming Jazz at the Philharmonic tour, heard the Montreal-born Mr. Peterson on a live radio broadcast on the way back to the airport.

"The cab driver knew where we were playing and took him down to the Alberta Lounge," Mr. Peterson said in 1983. "And from there Norman took me to Carnegie Hall. I'm lucky; it was just one of those things."

At his first American concert as part of Jazz at the Philharmonic (JATP), he wasn't even billed. But the critical and audience reaction was so overwhelmingly positive that Granz, who would manage Mr. Peterson for the next 30 years, quickly added him to the JATP lineup as it toured the country.

Over the next half-century, Mr. Peterson became not only one of the most influential jazz pianists but by most accounts the most widely recorded of all time, in every possible setting — solo, duets, the trios that were his most famous format, small ensembles and orchestras. Mr. Peterson himself joked that he hadn't the faintest idea how many records he'd made — a quick glance at All Music shows more than 300.

In 2005 he became the first living person other than a reigning monarch to obtain a commemorative stamp in Canada, where he is jazz royalty, with streets, squares, concert halls and schools named after him.

Mr. Peterson suffered a stroke in 1993 that weakened his left hand, but not his passion or drive for music. Within a year he was back on tour, recording "Side By Side" with Itzhak Perlman.

He kept playing and touring, despite worsening arthritis and difficulties walking.

"A jazz player is an instant composer," Mr. Peterson once said in a CBC interview, while conceding jazz did not have the mass appeal of other musical genres. "You have to think about it, it's an intellectual form," he said.

Information from The Washington Post is included in this report.