Oscar Peterson

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, CC , CQ , O.Ont., D.Mus. is a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was born on August 15, 1925 in Montreal, Quebec.

He began learning trumpet and piano from hi

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, CC , CQ , O.Ont., D.Mus. is a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was born on August 15, 1925 in Montreal, Quebec.

He began learning trumpet and piano from his father at the age of five, but by the age of seven, after a bout of tuberculosis, he concentrated on the piano. Some of the artists who influenced Oscar during the early years were Teddy Wilson, Nat "King" Cole, James P. Johnson and the legendary Art Tatum, to whom many have tried to compare Oscar in later years. In fact, one of Oscar's first exposures to the musical talents of Art Tatum came early in his teen years when his father played an Art Tatum record to him and Oscar was so intimidated by what he heard that he didn't touch the piano for over a month.