Oscar Peterson in January 2005 Smithsonian Magazine
Posted: 07 Apr 2005, 17:51I was attempting to catch up on my reading last night and found an interesting article about Oscar Peterson. It tells a little about his history and his struggles to come back after suffering a stroke in the 90's. Here is the partial story found on the Smithsonian webpage. The full article appeared in the January 2005 Smithsonian Magazine.
Return of a Virtuoso
Following a debilitating stroke, the incomparable jazz pianist Oscar Peterson had to start over
In May 1993, Oscar Peterson, 67 and one of the greatest jazz pianists ever, found his left hand flubbing the boogie-woogie passages that climax the arrangement. The second set was worse. For the first time in an international career that had begun with a surprise debut at Carnegie Hall at age 24, Peterson—known for such spectacular shows of keyboard mastery that Duke Ellington called him the "maharajah of the piano"—had difficulty playing.
After Peterson had returned to his home in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga, Ontario, he saw a doctor and learned that he had had a stroke, which had rendered his left side nearly immobile. It seemed that he would never perform again.
Few jazz pianists have been as widely celebrated. He has garnered 11 Grammy nominations and seven wins, and he has won more Downbeat magazine popularity polls than any other pianist. His swinging virtuosity has been recorded on upwards of 400 albums, and the people he has played with over the decades—from Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker to Ella Fitzgerald—are jazz immortals.
In a Smithsonian profile, memoirist and novelist Marya Hornbacher hears from the great jazz artist about his remarkably rich musical past and his comeback struggle against affliction to return to the world stage. Says Peterson: "I want to be able to do anything my mind tells me to do."
Here is the link to the Smithsonian page where this came from:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsoni ... erson.html
The complete story can be found at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsoni ... terson.pdf
and yes, there are some people from South Carolina who actually read Smithsonian
Return of a Virtuoso
Following a debilitating stroke, the incomparable jazz pianist Oscar Peterson had to start over
In May 1993, Oscar Peterson, 67 and one of the greatest jazz pianists ever, found his left hand flubbing the boogie-woogie passages that climax the arrangement. The second set was worse. For the first time in an international career that had begun with a surprise debut at Carnegie Hall at age 24, Peterson—known for such spectacular shows of keyboard mastery that Duke Ellington called him the "maharajah of the piano"—had difficulty playing.
After Peterson had returned to his home in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga, Ontario, he saw a doctor and learned that he had had a stroke, which had rendered his left side nearly immobile. It seemed that he would never perform again.
Few jazz pianists have been as widely celebrated. He has garnered 11 Grammy nominations and seven wins, and he has won more Downbeat magazine popularity polls than any other pianist. His swinging virtuosity has been recorded on upwards of 400 albums, and the people he has played with over the decades—from Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker to Ella Fitzgerald—are jazz immortals.
In a Smithsonian profile, memoirist and novelist Marya Hornbacher hears from the great jazz artist about his remarkably rich musical past and his comeback struggle against affliction to return to the world stage. Says Peterson: "I want to be able to do anything my mind tells me to do."
Here is the link to the Smithsonian page where this came from:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsoni ... erson.html
The complete story can be found at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsoni ... terson.pdf
and yes, there are some people from South Carolina who actually read Smithsonian