Happy 82nd Birthday, Oscar Peterson
Thankfully, jazz piano legend Oscar Peterson is still with us. My dad used to play The Trio: Live in Chicago in his car when I was a kid -- I got so addicted to that version of "Chicago", going through so many different sections and tempos, I think it was subliminally pushing me to be a piano player. It certainly stuck for a while, but J.J Johnson, Live at the Opera House, won me over (Oscar was on that one, too) and by seventeen I was more a trombone player than piano player. I got to see Oscar with Ray Brown, Herb Ellis, and Jeff Hamilton at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 1991, and despite a recent stroke still lived up to my expectations. Still taking care of business after 80 years, all I can say is: Long Live Oscar Peterson!