Oscar Peterson, 1925-2007

If you heard only the NPR news blip on jazz pianist Oscar Peterson's death, you heard that he was "well known for having won many prizes." Not sure what skeleton holiday crew came up with that dismal description. Prizes were hardly the source of Peterson's fame.

Musically, Peterson was in a class by himself--never quite a swing player, never quite a bop player. He didn't have a particular style.

Art Tatum is known for his incredible runs, Dave Brubeck for his inventive use of chords.

Peterson did both, but did them so well that he's not really celebrated for anything.

He's the author of one of the most affecting performances we've ever heard, a version of the Benny Golson lament to trumpter Clifford Brown, who died in a car crash at 25.

Peterson's piano version of I Remember Clifford (which you can hear a sample of here) starts as a ballad, rises to a crescendo, kicks into double-time, and returns to earth with a startlingly touching ending. Peterson's version isn't really about Clifford Brown, it's about life--about the sadness of passing and the joy of being and, like life, it's too short.

Peterson's was, anyway. He last played Seattle in 2004. To our eternal regret, we missed our last chance to see him.

Here's Peterson performing a wonderfully playful version of You Look Good to Me:

UPDATE: In retrospect, it was a little unfair to pick on NPR for not perhaps being up to their usual excellent standards in describing Peterson. I'm sure most newscasts didn't even mention his death. A friendly NPR staffer was nice enough to send along links to some of the other coverage they did, notably this fascinating piece on All Things Considered.

After the jump, some more excellent Peterson from Youtube: