Keep your hands to yourself

Fast as me

Sublime: Cole, Peterson, Ellis, Brown and Hawkins

A video clip of the ultimate super group: Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Coleman Hawkins.

Oscar Peterson: Great Canadian was best in the world

Above is a video clip of The Oscar Peterson Trio which performed at my wedding party at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, Dec. 1, 1973: Oscar Peterson, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and Martin Drew.

Fans and friends from around the world have been expressing their condolences at the passing of Oscar Peterson on Dec. 23. The 82-year-old pianist, whose career spanned 65 years, passed away due to kidney failure, at his home in Mississauga, Ontario.
He was revered and admired by all who worked with him as well as those of us who simply heard him play. He was the recipient of all the awards conceivable, including the Glenn Gould Prize, and was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada.
I was delighted to have him perform at my wedding on Dec. 1, 1973, because for me, Peterson represented all that was great about Canada — a humble ethnic kid from the working class suburbs who had risen, through hard work, to be acknowledged as the best in the world. This was what I had impressed on my new London-born wife, as we raced from the reception in St. John’s Wood to Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho.
Alas, when we arrived the woman at the ticket counter said Peterson’s show was completely sold out. At that point Ronnie Scott sidled up to us, asked if we had just got married, and when we responded in the affirmative, he said we could have his own table that night.
It was a perfect, romantic evening of wonderful music and we had the best seats in the house. We felt as though we were the only people in the world that night.
Many years later our youngest daughter managed to get a seat at Peterson’s sold-out 2004 performance at the Vancouver Jazz Festival — she couldn’t get us tickets but she did present us with Peterson’s autobiography. On reading it I realized that he was not only a great musician and composer, but also had a gift for prose and story-telling. The book is, in turn, poignant, funny, serious, and always intelligent.
Many serious words have been expressed about Peterson, but I’d like to end with a funny reminiscence told by my uncle, Kaare, a Danish sound technician and part-time musician.
Peterson's sublime bassist, the late Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, shared Peterson’s love for pranks. After Peterson had sneaked on-stage in Copenhagen to de-tune Pedersen’s bass just before showtime, Pedersen got his revenge the following night by stealthily depositing a handful of marbles inside Peterson’s grand piano.
When Peterson started playing the cacophony of glass ricocheting off steel wires was truly horrendous.
Peterson was bewildered, then glanced over at Pedersen, who was convulsed with laughter — and a big “you got me back good” smile came over Peterson’s face.
If there is an afterlife, those two men are now making heavenly music together, and undoubtedly enjoying a good laugh too.