All language subtitles for Oscar.Peterson.Black.White.2020.720p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

Downloaded from
YTS.MX

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

-[piano keys tuning octaves]
-[musicians chatter]

[bass riff playing]

I could listen to
about four notes,

and I'd say,
"That's Oscar." [chuckles]

[Herbie Hancock]
It's a beautiful day.

To be here, feeling
the spirit of Oscar,

it's a very, very special,
special thing for me.

[various instruments playing]

It's been amazing, just...

in company of such
great musicians.

If I can honor him

the best that I can,
that's enough,

and I'm sure that's
all he would ask.

[jazz music]

My first guest is someone
who is most simply described

as the best jazz pianist
in the world.

[jazz piano music]

He has such virtuoso technique

and such a...
breathtaking imagination.

[jazz piano music]

It's my pleasure now
to introduce--

-Oscar Peterson!
-Oscar Peterson.

Oscar Peterson!

[audience applauds]

[jazz piano music]

[Oscar Peterson] I get up in the
morning, I think "piano".

I go to bed at night,
I think "piano".

During the day, I think "piano".

I am a jazz pianist.
That's all I want to be.

What he just threw away
for five seconds,

I would cut off my arm
to be able to do.

Who's at the top
of the heap? Oscar.

[jazz piano music]

He's certainly one of the

greatest exponents of jazz music

of our time, and even anytime.

[Ramsey Lewis] Oscar Peterson
was the best in piano playing.

The best that there could be.

[jazz piano music]

[Jon Batiste] Oscar Peterson
comes along,

and he just fits in this

wonderful mosaic puzzle
of jazz in the history.

He fills another gap.
He fills a void.

[jazz piano music]

You can't talk about jazz

in the middle
of the 20th century

without understanding

what a phenomenon
Oscar Peterson was.

[jazz piano music]

[audience applauds]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[slow jazz piano music]

He plays with power, but also

there's a certain
lightness to it,

because it's so easy.

[Botos] One of the first albums
I heard,

records I heard,
was "Oscar Peterson Plus One."

The major things
I remember feeling was

the freedom, the swing.

S-W-I-N-G, swing. [chuckles]

That is what I think
about Oscar Peterson.

I mean, he embodies swing.

[jazz music]

[speaking French]

[playing "Place St. Henri"]

Oscar, I'm sure that our
viewers would like to know

some more about your
very exciting career.

Tell me, how did it
all get started?

[Oscar] Well, it all started
with my dad.

He became a musician

because of being a sailor.

He bought himself
some kind of little organ,

and taught himself
how to play organ.

He taught my mom how to play
and then he decided,

as the children came along,

that we should all have
a workable knowledge of music.

And I think it was wonderful.
I started on trumpet originally.

-Did you really?
-Yes, I did.

-What age?
-Five.

But I had tuberculosis.

When I came out of the hospital
about a year later,

they asked me not
to play a wind instrument,

and go back to the piano,
which I did.

Do you think you were destined

for the piano in some way?

At that age, I thought

I was destined to play baseball.

[audience laughs]

[jazz music]

[Joel Michaels] And his dad
would come home,
expecting Oscar to be able to do

what he had studied
the week before.

And Oscar, a few hours
before his dad came home,

he'd sit down
and figure everything out,

and that's how Oscar trained.

[jazz music]

♪ ♪

The two teachers
I really remember, of course,
were my sister Daisy,

and then a gentleman who had a
great, great influence on me,

a Hungarian classical pianist
by the name of Paul De Marky.

I taught him... technique,

speedy fingers,

because that's what
you need in jazz.

[Oscar] In music,
he made me believe

that I did have something
to offer the music world.

I attended a conservatory
for a very short time.

By that time I had more
or less decided on jazz,

which was not what the
conservatory was teaching.

So, I sort of had to make it up,

with live role models.

People like Teddy Wilson,

Nat King Cole.

[jazz music]

In an effort to deflate
the ego of my youth,

my father brought home
an Art Tatum record.

It actually haunted me that

someone could play the piano
this well.

-Yeah.
-[audience laughs]

[Oscar] I gave up the piano
for two solid months,

and had crying fits at night.

[Russonello] And so many
musicians rightly have
that moment,

and recognize that indeed,

nobody was going
to beat Art Tatum.

If there's one musician
of the 20th century, who...

had that moment
and proved himself wrong,

it's Oscar Peterson.

[jazz trio playing]

♪ ♪

[Oscar] My sister got me on the
amateur show here in Canada,

and I won my division.

And then came guest shots,
and so forth, and so on.

[announcer] Young Oscar
Peterson, 220 pounds

of terrific musical sense
and piano technique,

has been cutting
a rhythmic, blazing

path of success
over the airwaves.

A combination of Art Tatum,
Teddy Wilson,

still going to school,

he manages to make
his presence felt

on as many occasions
that his homework will allow.

[jazz music]

[woman] How old were you
when you first started

playing the nightclub circuit?

[Oscar] Well, I started
playing dance halls,

I would say around 16 or 17.

[man] Were you playing
with any name bands?

[Oscar] Yes, I'm playing with
Johnny Holmes' orchestra.

He's also my manager.

[Johnny Holmes]
That piano is the piano that
Oscar Peterson played on

when he started with us in 1942.

When he came into
our band at 17,

he was a diamond-in-the-rough.

He would blow everything
in the first chorus.

But I had a talk with him.

He criticized and, you know,

praised, if it was needed.

[jazz music]

I had an offer
from Count Basie, first of all,

and he asked me, if I ever got
to New York, to look him up.

From my opinion, music is
opening up in Canada and

there's a much greater
future on its way

to all the young
musicians in Canada.

and I'd like to stick
and be here when it does.

[jazz music]

[Quincy Jones] Everyone I knew
had heard the rumors about

this incredible,
young piano player

from, of all places, Montreal.

Now, I must admit, back then,

I didn't even know they had
Black people in Canada.

[audience laughs]

Here's what I'm thinking,

the first verse, maybe even,

I don't know, just really light,

I'm just, I'm not gonna do just
one note, I'm gonna go like--

-[piano playing]
-[humming in rhythm]

♪ ♪

I met Oscar when he
first came to Halifax,

while I was living there.

I think about him a lot,
when I hear the music.

Especially when
I play the music.

He came in. The plane was late.

He jumped on the stage,
he was playing solo piano,

and it was amazing.

[jazz music]

After having succeeded at
winning a CBC radio contest,

after having getting
a contract with RCA Victor--

like that was big time,
in the day.

When he was finally situated
at the Alberta Lounge,

he was heard by Norman Granz.

[Russonello] Norman Granz
takes jazz and he brings it

into a realm of a sort of a
signifier of sophistication.

[man] Norman Granz,
the originator of Jazz
at the Philharmonic

and the greatest
impresario in jazz.

Many years ago, when I was

touring Canada
and the United States

with Jazz at the Philharmonic,

I was told by Coleman Hawkins

and Billy Strayhorn

about a marvelous piano player
in Canada,

and I finally had
a chance to hear

Oscar Peterson in Vancouver.

I was so unimpressed
with Oscar Peterson,

I didn't bother even
to listen to him anymore.

I must admit, I completely
forgot about Oscar.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Well, I was in Montreal then,

I took a taxi for the airport,

and the cabbie had
his radio going,

and I heard this
wonderful piano playing.

I thought it was a disc jockey.

At the end of the number,
I asked him

if he could give me
the name of the station.

He said, "No, that
wasn't a station.

That was the
Alberta Lounge, where

it was a group playing,
Oscar Peterson."

And I very dramatically said,

"Turn right around
and let's go there."

[Oscar] I said, "My God,
it's Norman Granz!"

And I couldn't believe that
he's sitting in the lounge.

He said, "I'd like you
to take a shot at

the American jazz market."

He invited me to be
a guest artist

on the Carnegie Hall
concert that fall,

with Jazz at the Philharmonic.

And I remember how
reticent I was to even
take you up on the offer,

because I wasn't ready
to play in that sort of league.

[woman] But you held out
for a long time.

Yeah, but it wasn't
the right time,

really and it was wrong.

It was, I was really immature,

personally, mentally,
whatever way you want to...

I was a kid of 13, mentally.

A 13-year-old kid,
their heads would be turned.

You have to be pretty objective
about yourself to say,

I have to hone my craft
and I'm gonna do it.

Oh, I didn't say it,
my mother and father said it.

I was trying to
talk them into it.

-Oh, really?
-Yeah!

But they said,
"No, no, not at 13.

We don't want you smokin' pot
till you're... 21."

I finally agreed to do it.
He decided it should be
at Carnegie Hall.

He said, "Take your best shot
and you'll know in one shot.

If you make it, you'll know it.
if you don't make it,
you'll know that too.

[jazz music]

Actually, I was not supposed
to play when I went down there,

You're not allowed
to play or work

in the United States
without a visa.

So when I came through,
one of the

immigration officers, he said,

"You're not planning
to play down there, are you?"

I said, "No, not me."
"So what you coming down for?"

I said, "I'm going to
hear a concert in New York.

He said, "Oh, okay."

[jazz music continues]

I went down for Norman Granz's
concert there,

and I even sat in the audience.
As a matter of fact,

my name didn't even
appear on the program.

He came down and got me.
He said,

"I want you to go out
there and do your thing.

Just go there and play."

I said, "No wait a minute.
I haven't been playing
solo piano."

He said, "Oh,
I'll tell you what,
I'll let you use Ray Brown.'"

Up until the time Ray Brown
and myself stepped on stage,

we really didn't know
what was going to happen,

or what to expect,
until suddenly...

[audience applauds]

[fast jazz piano music]

[audience applauds]

How would I have known
about Oscar Peterson

if it wasn't for Norman Granz?

[chuckles]

[Jones] I first heard about him
because I was going to

Jazz at the Philharmonic
all the time,

and I heard that Norman Granz

was grooming some
new piano player,

who was 17 years old.
And it was Oscar.

[Bill King]
He's coming from Canada.
He's coming from Montreal.

So he's coming in without
the influence of

the club scene in America.

And I think that kind of shaped
his style of playing.

[Batiste] But then he also has
the soul of somebody

who grew up playing in like,
down home blues joints,

juke joints, speakeasies.

Being a Canadian,

and not coming up
in that tradition,

it was in his DNA somehow.

You know, when he came out,
it was just so polished.

[Russonello] For Oscar Peterson
to arrive into that

as essentially a rookie,

but somebody who was so deeply
proven at home,

it's almost like you're
in the big leagues,

and you're already known
as an enormous star.

And that set the tone
for Oscar Peterson's career.

All I know is that
I wanted to play.

I came to play,
and that was my main intent.

Norman Granz saw that and

gave him a lot of running room.

I guess you can more-or-less
say this was

the beginning of
an international career.

[jazz music]

[Oscar] The following fall,

I did the full tour
of Jazz at the Philharmonic,

and I believe that it's
sincerely what launched me

on the music scene
in the United States.

[fast jazz music playing]

[Jones] They were the best
players in the world,

and Norman Granz took
them all over the world.

And crowds, everywhere they
went, they went crazy,

myself included.

[Russonello] Granz had
had this idea

to bring these virtuoso
Black musicians

into the concert hall.

It made going to the
Philharmonic to hear jazz,

a society activity.

Jazz at the Philharmonic

put jazz musicians

on a national
and even international stage.

[Granz] We're happy to be back
in Amsterdam
for our annual concert.

[audience applauds]

The Oscar Peterson Trio!

[piano music]

[Granz] Jazz at the Phil
had never been to Japan,

and they had a parade,
they had the whole thing

down the streets of Tokyo,
with the confetti and

it was quite an
auspicious occasion.

[Oscar] I remember when
we went to Japan,

he made the announcement.

I still can't believe this...

in Japanese.

[Granz speaking Japanese]

On piano, Oscar Peterson.

[audience applauds]

[Oscar] We were all
standing in the wings

with our mouths open saying,

"I thought he was American!"
[laughs]

But that's how deeply
he would get,

and become involved
in these things.

[Ramsey Lewis] Norman Granz
made sure that

Oscar, and Ella,
and all the other ones

that was under his umbrella,

were treated properly,
were treated

as well as classical musicians

and played the best halls.

♪ It was just ♪

♪ One of those things ♪

[Oscar] When you play,
certainly on a show
like Jazz at the Phil,

it's a matter of competition.

We traveled many times
so much by bus.

You know, Ella, Roy,

Norman, you know Ray,

Herbie Ellis, it was a family.

And when Ella was
singing something like that--

It was a beautiful afternoon,
and she started singing.

And next thing you know,

Herbie got his guitar out,
and he started playing for her,

and Ray took his bass and sat
halfway in the aisle
with the bass.

And she was singing
these beautiful tunes,

and the sun was just going down,

and I'll never forget that
scene as long as I live.

But it was a family,
and he wanted it that way.

I'm thankful that I was
fortunate enough

to be able to hear
all of these greats

and learn from them.

[Ella] ♪ Here's hoping
We meet now and then ♪

♪ It was great fun ♪

♪ But it was just ♪

♪ One of those things ♪

[audience applauds]

[fast jazz piano music]

[Russonello] The format of the
guitar, the piano, and the bass

was the one that he went to
early in his career,

when he first
landed in New York.

I had a chance to ask
Oscar about that,

and he said that Nat Cole
was a big influence on him.

[jazz music]

His trio influenced
my choice of sound

when I formed my own trio
with bass and guitar.

[jazz trio music]

♪ ♪

That's about the time
that Herbie Ellis
joined us on guitar,

and it really made a trio
out of us.

♪ ♪

[Herb Ellis] It was really
a trio that

we were completely involved,

musically and personally,

[Ray Brown] So he,
you know, he said,

"Hey man, let's just
get ours together and...

so that it operates under
any kind of conditions.

And we want to be able to play
any song and make it work.

[Hancock] It was Ray Brown
that influenced almost

every bass player
that I've ever met.

[Oscar] I can remember
the great feeling
of exhilaration that I had,

being able to call the tunes
that I wanted,

and to have them played
exactly the way

I wanted them played.

♪ ♪

[Ellis] Ray and I
have often talked about that.

We tried to play for Oscar.

I mean, everybody wasn't
out for himself.

And we all got
our individual solos,

and Oscar gave us plenty
of chance to play.

But when Oscar played,

we really played
to make him sound

as good as we could
make him sound.

[Branford Marsalis] Well,
I mean, none of them worked

as well as that trio.
That was the great trio.

One of the things

that is very important in a band

is that you have musicians
who understand

what their function is.

I just think that Oscar
Peterson was such a listener,

such a person who could

give it all to you
on the keyboard,

while also maintaining
this incredible awareness

of what was going on around him.

[Lewis] Oscar would look back
at, you know, Ray Brown,
and Herb Ellis,

and he was saying,
"Don't drag it!"

'cause Oscar liked to, he used
to like to push the beat.

What was he able to do was
take the trio, the standards,

and make the whole trio
sound like a big band.

[Oscar] We went
into a Basin Street place,

opposite a big band,
a well-known big band.

We finished our set,
and the leader
got up on the stand.

He said "We don't know what
to follow that with."

[jazz music playing]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Right after that, Herbie Ellis
on guitar was replaced

by Ed Thigpen on drums,

and while we were
in that period,
we also did a bit of singing.

[jazz music playing]

♪ What makes me treat you ♪

♪ The way that I do ♪

♪ Gee, baby
Ain't I good to you? ♪

You also have to watch how you
approach playing with the
drummer, believe it or not,

because most people think that
it's complete freedom. It isn't!

To the contrary to me,

you have to then complement
what the bass player is doing.

[Ray Brown] After all of us
being with Jazz
at the Philharmonic,

and now we wind up
with that group.

There's a lot of stuff that you

have accrued over those years

of playing
with all those giants.

And now this stuff can come out.

[Hancock] Because of the kind
of players that he had,

his generosity and,

allowing their sound to be

so much a part
of the sound of the band.

♪ ♪

[Russonello] That trio,
essentially,

sort of sets
a new standard for being able to

have this incredible
amount of power,

and a sound that really takes
advantage of Oscar Peterson's

ability to play all 88 keys.

[bass jazz music]

[Brown] Perhaps because this
particular group

melded so well,

and we became so sensitive,

one to the other.

This poster showed a picture
of the three heads,

but Oscar's, of course,
was dominant,

and it was like we were
really inside of each other.

That was the idea of the
orchestra became an instrument,

and each had a particular place,

but it was shifting
all the time.

And he was the focal point

because stylistically,
as an arranger, he's incredible.

There was a love in that group

that I would have to say,
showed in the music.

We weren't afraid of anything
at that time. I've changed now!

We may have been wrong,
but we were strong!

[both laugh]

[jazz music playing]

[jazz piano music playing]

Solo piano and group piano,

two totally different things.

Because solo piano
is a very free form.

You can do almost anything,
go anywhere.

You can change key
at a second's notice,

where you don't have tell anyone
what key you're going to.

Group has to know.

And if you pull that on the
group, as I said,

you're gonna be playing solo
piano the next night,

whether you want to or not!

♪ ♪

[Russonello] He has the ability
to span across a whole lot
of the keyboard.

I mean, he's equipped
to play the piano,

in all sorts of ways,
and he went there.

[Hancock] His sense of swing,
and melody,

and just the sound that he would
get on the instrument.

And his stuff was funky,

and it could be beautiful
and tender,

and all those
different emotions.

[slow jazz music]

[Oscar] Playing to me, cannot
possibly always be fun.

It takes a lot
out of me to play,

so, I guess where it
really is fun,

is if it's a recording date,
hearing the result.

♪ ♪

[Marsalis] My entree to Oscar
was that record

"In the Wee Small Hours
of the Morning"

and I listened to that record

at least two times a day,

every day for a year and a half.

My dad showed me
a Oscar Peterson record.

"Au Privave" was on the record,
"Scrapple from the Apple."

I remember listening to those
two tracks over and over.

And I just wondered how he
was able to make the piano

sound like he had four hands.

Just sounded like there was
so much goin' on.

[Joel] When I was a kid,
those jazz records

were really, really
important to me.

And I would play these
jazz albums on,

into the wee hours of the night,

while I was still living
at home with my mom,

and she'd bang on the wall,
"Turn that down!"

I'd say, "It's Oscar Peterson!'

[Russonello] He's somebody that

people who've used him
as an accompanist,

come back to him.

This ability to engage in

ostentatious, virtuoso,

just unbelievable playing,
but also

to be somebody that's actually
a joy to work with

and to be somebody that does not

drown out his collaborators,

is remarkable.

At that time we were
serving sort of

as the house rhythm
section for Norman,

while he had Verve Records.

And each player needs
a certain thing.

What we played, for instance,
for Sonny Stitt,

we could never play
for Stan Getz.

The way we played
for Charlie Parker,

we would not play that
way for Benny Carter.

And the intrusions you might
pull off on Dizzy Gillespie,

there is no imaginable way

we would take these liberties
for Lester Young.

Oscar, on those records
says everything

that you need to know,

and people that don't know,
won't understand

anything until they hear it.

And when they hear it,
oh, my God!

If you put on
an Oscar Peterson record,

you know you're going
to feel lifted.

[slow piano music]

Musicians like Oscar Peterson
showed, that indeed

there was a new kind of American
classical music,

and it was created by
Black people in this country.

[jazz piano music]

This is an American idiom.

This is an American art form.
We invented it.

If you don't know about it,
there's a missing link

in your appreciation of music.

[Oliver] There's a way that
Black musicians create

that is at a different level,

that's hard to harness and
really box in and understand.

So, as soon as you grasp
one part of

"Oh, this is what we're doing,"

we're working on doing
something differently.

And adding something to it.

So, that constant changing
and transformation

is what has kept jazz alive.

[slow piano jazz music]

♪ ♪

That's the beauty of jazz.

It's in the moment
and allows a person

to express himself

with a generous heart.

[Oscar] Jazz
is instant composition.

That's the simplest
way of putting it.

I think, the origins,
and the roots of jazz,

belong to the Negro.

But that, to me, is only
a first instance.

♪ ♪

When I went
to the United States,

I'd go in the studio to do radio
shows or television shows,

and I look over at the orchestra
and there wouldn't be any
Blacks in the orchestra,

and I knew, really, that it
was a, you know, a clique.

This is why Black musicians
had to go

the way of the jazz route.

We had no other route to go.

And I decided that if the only
way I was going to make it,

was to frighten the hell out
of everybody pianistically,

if that's what it took
to get the attention,

then I was going to do my best
to do it that way.

[soft jazz piano music]

♪ ♪

[woman] You used to play a lot
of boogie-woogie.

[Oscar] I think boogie-woogie
just represents

another transitional period
in jazz.

In boogie-woogie, you actually
have complete

separation of two hands.

The left hand does something
completely independent.

It's not sympathetic
rhythmically speaking,
to what the right hand does.

[Lewis] Oscar is so good
because he plays all 88 keys.

His left hand is just about
as good as his right hand.

A lot of piano players,
they'd say this.

Their left hand is not as good
as their right hand.

How do you comp for yourself?
Your left hand.

You think about your left hand.

[piano notes]

[stomping and snapping]

[piano notes and
snapping fingers]

It's like a big band
that's playing

[Joel] You would drive yourself
crazy trying to figure out

what he's actually playing.
Only he knew.

[Russonello] You hear
Oscar Peterson and you hear this

kind of ebullience, this kind of

powerful warmth, that was his,

you know, his alone.

[jazz piano playing]

Jazz brings out the
inner-being of a player.

It brings up a statement
from the player

that you might not get otherwise
because they're out there
taking chances.

And I think, that's a very
healthy thing for any player.

When you see him play,
you see somebody whose

body is completely in command,

but whose mind is
a few steps ahead.

[Joel] I'm trying to follow
his fingers on his right hand

and it was impossible.
It was a blur.

I didn't know that a piano
could be played that fast

off the top of your head.

[Hancock] In my mind,
I was like, how is he able

to get all of that
with those big fingers?

[laughs]

I think a lot of young
musicians, when they hear Oscar,

they have to decipher it.

There's a decoding
that has to happen.

It's almost like
an expansion of your mind.

You start to realize,
"Oh wow, this is possible."

[Oscar] My music is really
an expression.

It's my opinion, it is our
opinions about certain tunes.

And that's what I always
say about jazz.

It's an interpretive art.

As a very dear friend of mine
and a great musician

in the jazz field,
Milt Jackson, said once,

"You have to be careful
that you don't rehearse

all of the soul
out of the tunes."

That means, playing them
over and over and over.

During a guest appearance,
and I said,

"Listen, would you run it
down for the sound crew?"
"Fine!"

Went through it,
in the up tempo, said, "Fine."

"Would you do it once
more for us, please?"

"'Fine. Did it again.
Three times?"

Now, Ray's looking
at me funny, right?

Then by the time, you know,
I finished the 17th playing

for the cameras and so forth,

I told the director, I said,

"You know, I really don't wanna
play that tune tonight."

[audience laughs]

[man speaking French]

[Oscar speaking French]

[speaking French]

[jazz music playing]

[Lewis] It was as if he had his
own metronome inside himself.

Not a metronome that states,
"Steady, steady, steady,"

As we all know,
Oscar used to try to--

push the beat forward.

If he decides that he's gonna
pull a little harder
on the swing,

you're gonna feel it.

Adventurous.

Nothing scared him.
He'd try anything.

[jazz music]

How do I come up...

with this thing you call
invention or improvisation?

I just happen to listen
and echo it.

It's the simplicity
of the lines.

First of all, if it doesn't
reach you, you're in trouble,

but if it does reach you, and
if you can't come up with that,

in some way, shape or form,
you're not going to play.

Well, the big trick with Matt,
I always thought, was

that he not only
knew what to play, but he knew,

-what to leave out.
-To leave out.

This was the big thing.

He'd have tremendous spaces

-in his playing.
-[piano music]

His real genius as a pianist
was smothered, so to speak,

overshadowed
by his great singing.

♪ I just found joy ♪

♪

♪ I'm as happy as a baby boy ♪

♪ With another brand new
Chew-chew toy ♪

♪ When I met my sweet
Lorraine, Lorraine, Lorraine ♪

[Oscar] He came in to hear me
one night in New York,

and he was amazed
at the arrangements.

He loved the arrangements
we were doing.

And he said,
"I'll make a bargain,

if you say to me, you won't sing
anymore, I won't play piano."

You know, I was gonna make
that bargain with him.

[chuckles]

I love the singing too much.
And his piano playing!

♪ Each night I pray ♪

♪ ♪

♪ That no one will
Steal her heart away ♪

♪ I can't wait until
That lucky day ♪

♪ When I marry sweet Lorraine ♪

♪ ♪

You make a pact
with the instrument,

that you're going
to play it a certain way,

and you're going to talk
to it a certain way,

and hopefully,
it will respond to you.

[Batiste] Then there's
the spiritual component of it,

which is the joy of playing.

No matter what he's playin',
there's a sense of joy

and connection to joy
that comes through.

That's what gave his
music so much substance,

because he was always giving.

That's what we have to learn.

It's not about the
notes that we play.

It's about the heart

that's in the person
that's playing the notes.

[Oscar] I try never to take
this instrument for granted,

and the medium, of course.

I look at this instrument
as a new affair,

every night, every time I play.

Oscar Peterson revolutionized

the piano by his technique.

By the things he played.

He reinvented the piano, really.

If you haven't heard him,
you're missing.

You gotta listen to this guy.

[fast jazz piano music]

[audience cheers and applauds]

[Russonello] Oscar Peterson
had walked in fully formed,

ready to play,
traveling the country,

completely celebrity status.

[playful jazz piano music]

♪ I was walking along ♪

♪ Minding my business ♪

♪ When out of
An orange-colored sky ♪

♪ Flash! Bam! Alakazam! ♪

♪ Wonderful you came by ♪

♪ I was hummin' a tune
Drinkin' in-♪

[Oscar speaking]

♪ Then the ceiling fell in
And the bottom fell out ♪

♪ I went into a spin
And I started to shout ♪

♪ "I've been hit, this is it,
This is it!" ♪

Oscar, it must be a pretty
nice feeling to be

back home again in Montreal
after your traveling.

How long have you been
away on this tour?

Well, this last tour kept me
away for four months, Fred.

[Sinclaire] ♪ Flash!
Bam! Alakazam! ♪

♪ Out of an orange-colored sky ♪

♪ ♪

Now, we'd always run over
to London House,

and up top, it said,
"Oscar Peterson, now appearing."

That's where
I first heard Oscar.

And that's where
he blew my mind.

[song continues]

♪ ♪

♪ One look
And I yelled "Timber" ♪

♪ Watch out for flying glass ♪

♪ Then the ceiling fell in
And the bottom fell out ♪

♪ I went into a spin
And I started to shout ♪

♪ "I've been hit, this is it
This is it!" ♪

I was intrigued to hear you
say that you're going to Tokyo.

Yes, I am, Kevin. As soon as
we finish the Continental Tour,

which starts
this coming Thursday,

we leave the continent
around the end of May,

and we open in Tokyo
on the first of June.

♪ ...Orange colored,
Purple striped ♪

♪ Pretty green polka-dot sky ♪

♪ Flash! Bam!
Alakazam and goodbye! ♪

♪ ♪

[audience whistles and applauds]

Sometimes it's hard
for people to appreciate,

how challenging it was
to be a Black person

in the 1920s, the 1930s,
the 1940s,

and frankly, to this day.

[Marsalis] You did not have
freedom of movement.

You got paid significantly less

for doing the same work
that other people did.

Coming down to the South,
it had to be

so shattering in so many ways.

First of all, you had the signs
that were saying

no dogs or Blacks allowed.

So the separate bathrooms,

the separate water fountains,

the awareness that

you were not welcome

would be the first thing

that would hit them.

I think the worst
moment of my life,

was when I saw true

racial hatred
for the first time.

[man] How did that
make you feel?

Mad!

[slow piano music]

[Martin Luther King, Jr.] There
are those who are asking

the devotees of civil rights,

-"When will you be satisfied?"
-[crowd] Never!

[King] We can never be satisfied

as long as the Negro
is the victim

of the unspeakable horrors

of police brutality.

We can never be satisfied,

as long as our body is heavy

with the fatigue of travel,

cannot gain lodging in the

motels of the highways

and the hotels of the cities.

[crowd cheering]

We can never be satisfied

as long as our children

are stripped of their self-hood

and robbed of their dignity

by signs stating,
"For Whites Only."

[crowd cheering]

[Sadlier] "Hymn to Freedom"
just meant

so many things at that time,

but it became the anthem

for the civil rights movement
in the United States,
and across the world.

♪ When every heart ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Joins every heart ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Together yearns for liberty ♪

♪ ♪

♪ That's when we'll be free ♪

We were in studio,
this day with the trio,

at that time was
Martin Luther King time

and the protests,
and the marches,

and it was dedicated to that.

I played the first chorus,

then the second chorus.

Ed and Ray joined me,

and that was recording.
Norman came back in,

and said "Now that's
my kind of music."

♪ ♪

And that's how the
Hymn to Freedom was born.

It came through him,
it channeled through him,

and that resonates with me
whenever I hear somebody

express it so unadulterated.
It's so pure.

Essentially, it's a tribute
to Martin Luther King, Jr.

and his approach
to nonviolent confrontation,

nonviolent ways of dealing
with civil rights
in the United States.

[Marsalis] It has power
because it's good.

Sonny Rollins wrote
"The Freedom Suite,"

Max Roach wrote
the "Freedom Now Suite".

It's a beautiful hymn,
and that's why it endures.

I see "Hymn to Freedom" as one
of those moments in his career

that we're lucky
it was documented.

♪ When men will live ♪

♪ In dignity ♪

♪ That is when we will be free ♪

♪ Oh, oh... ♪

[Oliver] The beauty
of "Hymn to Freedom" is

starting so small
and at the core

of people's voice.

With that spiritual and then
Blues flavor to it.

And that becomes the thread

I follow through
the entire piece.

So it's ancestral.

[Batiste] This guy
was so serious

in terms of his
pursuit of justice

and putting his life on the line

and standing up
in a way that was

beyond controversial
for the time.

[Oscar] A little later, Norm
thought there should be
lyrics to it,

and he called a lady by the
name of Harriette Hamilton,

who wrote some beautiful lyrics.

["Hymn to Freedom" playing]

[Oliver] Music was,
went hand in hand

with those acts of resistance.

Whether you were writing songs,
or writing music

with the intention
of highlighting

what was going on
and also saying,

here's how we
need to move forward.

And Oscar Peterson very
definitely did that

with "Hymn to Freedom".

I don't mean to brag about
this, but it turned out

bigger than I ever expected.

["Hymn to Freedom" continues]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

It wasn't easy, man.

It wasn't easy.

You go downtown,

and the hotel,

"Sorry, we're full up."

But you find out that they
don't take Black people.

♪ ♪

When Oscar would be traveling,

he would be denied

the opportunity to join

his fellow band members
in the hotels.

Probably the hotels that maybe
they were even playing in.

And so, what started to
happen is that Norman

chose to stay in
the Black hotels.

[Jones] This is when every place
had white and colored,

to wait in the bus stations,

and the water fountains
all over America.

You couldn't stay in
a white hotel anywhere.

♪ And when every man ♪

♪ Comes along ♪

♪ And joins in our song ♪

♪ Then together, we will sing ♪

♪ In harmony ♪

♪ That's when ♪

♪ That's when we'll be free ♪

♪ Yeah-ah! ♪

We get to Dallas, Texas.
The sun's up.

The biggest church in town

has an effigy
of a Black dummy hanging.

Lynched.

We landed at the airport,
down in Fort Worth,

and Norman right away looked
to get Ella settled,

"Fitz, you can ride downtown
with me."

They had a row of cabs sitting
out there and he said,

"Take this first cab."

And there was a cop
standing there,

and he shut the door, he said,
"Uh-uh, that's a white cab.

She doesn't get in that cab."

Norman said, "Who are you
to tell us she can't get
in the cab?"

And the cop pulled his gun out
and put it in Norman's stomach.

He stood his ground!

The policeman said,
"You know something funny?

I hate you worse than
I hate those niggers!"

And Norman said, "Sorry,
she's on her way to the hotel.
That's all that counts."

[Quincy Jones speaking]

[Oscar] We were playing
a concert hall somewhere.

I went to go
into the men's room.

Policeman said,
"Where are you going?"

I said, "I'm going
to the men's room."

"You can't. No, you can't!

You have to go outside and
use something else outside.

So I called one of the guys,
I said, "Go get Norman."

Norm said, "I rented this hall
to put on a concert.

He said, "Well,
I'm here to see that, you know,

there are no riots,
or anything."

He said, "Fine, well then you go
with the hall.

As I own the hall,
it's my hall tonight,

use the bathroom."

Life in America.

["Hymn to Freedom" continues]

The other part about
"Hymn to Freedom"

is that it was the song

that was sung by
a children's choir

at the first inauguration
of Barack Obama.

The choice of that piece

makes a profound statement

of culture, of history,

and also of unity.

Because we have tasted
the bitter swill

of civil war and segregation,

and emerged from
that dark chapter

stronger and more united.

The music then became the

consistent act of resistance.

♪ ♪

♪ And when every hand
All across the land ♪

♪ Joins every hand ♪

♪ Then together we can mold ♪

♪ Our destiny ♪

♪ That's when we will be free ♪

♪ Any hour ♪

♪ Any day ♪

♪ The time soon will come ♪

♪ ♪

♪ When man ♪

♪ He's gonna live in dignity ♪

♪ That's the day ♪

♪ That's the day we all
Will be free ♪

♪ When every man, every woman ♪

♪ Every child ♪

♪ Joins in our song ♪

♪ Can't you see it
Can't you feel it ♪

♪ Oh, sing it in harmony ♪

♪ That's when we'll be free ♪

♪ All over the world ♪

♪ That's when we'll be free ♪

♪ ♪

Stop killing Black people!

♪ ...we'll be... ♪

♪ This is the anthem
To the world ♪

♪ Hold it tight
Hold it tight! ♪

♪ This is the gift from ♪

♪ Oscar Peterson ♪

♪ That's when we'll be ♪

♪ Free! ♪

♪ Oh-oh-oh! ♪

[song ends]

[playing coda
to "Hymn to Freedom"]

[audience cheers and applauds]

[applause continues]

[man] Back on
the concert circuit, anywhere
from Tokyo to Paris,

everyone wants to hear him play.

Everyone wants to meet him.

[jazz music playing]

-Oscar could play, man.
-Yeah, Oscar could play.

That motherfucker
could play his ass off!

[both laughing]

[jazz piano music playing]

This son of a gun--

[audience laughs]

is a genius.

[jazz music]

[Joel] We were playing
the Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens,

somebody says to me,

"Hey, Oscar Peterson
wants to say hi!"

I said, "Yeah, yeah,
sure he does."

And he was there!

He came to see me!

Oscar Peterson is a man who's
blessed with great talent,

who's acquired tremendous skill,

and executed with...
unlimited authority.

[Ella Fitzgerald] He's like
a brother and a friend,

and one of the greatest
that you'll ever meet.

[presenter] The best jazz
instrumental soloist is--

Oscar Peterson!

[audience applauds]

[man] Ladies and gentlemen,
who else, Oscar Peterson!

[k.d. lang] The winner is...

"If You Could See Me Now,"

The Oscar Peterson Four.

[audience applauds]

Oscar Peterson is probably

today's finest jazz pianist,

Mr. Peterson!

[Oscar] When I was awarded
this great honor,

it meant an awful lot to me.

Because it means to me that

at least the country I live in

recognizes, to some degree,
what I've been trying to do.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[Oscar] Being on the road
with all the excitement
and the...

people coming and going
and the different

famous people that were
coming to hear me,

and the things that were
being asked of me,

"Would you go there?
Would you do this?"

And the itinerary itself

that kept me on the road

was detrimental to a marriage.

I know one of my
insecurities is that

I would like to be able

to try a normal existence,

without the pressures of

the competitive
professional world

on my shoulders.

[soft jazz piano music playing]

I found out that the...

traveling the road is,
is one of the loneliest things

in the world that
somebody can do.

And it can be a very,

a very debilitating

experience from a
personal aspect.

If you go out and have
one hell of a concert,

there's a tingling,
there's an excitement.

Who do you tell?

You're there with
the four walls. It's quiet.

[soft jazz piano music]

[man] Obviously, you paid
a price in your personal life.

Big price!

Um, depends on how much

you want one or the other.

Three unsuccessful marriages,
I can call that a price.

And the trail...
upheaval that it leaves,

there's a selfish factor
to it also.

The fact that
while this is going on...

in my life, I'm out doing this.

I felt guilty, I felt sick,

I felt immature, whatever.

Um... Not easy.

[jazz piano music playing]

It was lonely,

but music filled
that gap for me.

The performance, playing
with Ray, and Barney Kessel,

and Herbie Ellis, Buddy Rich...

filled that gap for me.

It didn't hurt
being away as much.

When I leave for the road,
I'm all business.

You know, I don't want to hear
it about my home.

I don't wanna about what,
I mean,

as far as thinking about that,

I'm primarily concerned
with what I do.

When I come home, I don't want
to hear about the road.

[all laugh]

[soft piano music]

♪ ♪

It's been amazing, just

in company of such
great musicians.

It's unbelievable. It's
important that I be present

and I show my admiration
for Mr. Oscar Peterson,

'cause I'm such...
not only a fan,

but just in awe
of his musical talent.

"Love Ballade" says everything

without even having text.

So it's one of these
beautiful melodies,

that stick with you
and require nothing further,

but for you to breathe
life into them.

The music speaks for you.

My parents were jazz fans

and listened to
Oscar's recordings.

And actually, then the
year that I graduated,

my mother, brother and I
went to Oscar's concert,

which was just incredible.

So, little did I know that

four years later,
I would meet him.

-[playing "Love Ballade"]
-[vocalizing melody]

[piano and singing continue]

I had just become dining room
manager at the restaurant,

while Oscar was playing
a concert in Sarasota.

And we almost didn't meet
because I didn't want to play

this one concert.
I was gonna cancel it.

And I was really disappointed,
because I knew I couldn't go

to the concert.
I had to work.

Next thing I know,
Oscar's walking in the door

of Charley's Crab.

I said, "She's really cute."

There was an openness
about her, that I liked.

And I would stop and
check on them periodically.

And he kept saying,
"Sit down, have a drink."

I said, "No, I'm, I'm working."

So, he handed me a business card

with his phone number on it.

and said--

"Why don't you come to New York
on the weekend?"

And I thought,
Wow, how charming.

So finally, I had to ask,

"Why do you keep asking me
if I'm gonna come to New York?

What do you expect from me?"

He said, "You just seem
like a nice person

and I want to get
to know you better."

["Love Ballade" continues]

I went to New York,
that was July of 1981.

And then, I moved to Toronto

to live with Oscar in 1986.

["Love Ballade" continues]

It was the tour right
before we got married,

when I realized I was pregnant.

And I didn't tell him
till we got to Japan,

because I didn't want him
to make me go home from Europe.

I wanted to go to Japan.

I was happy.

I'm a... sucker for kids.

He was able to spend
time with her.

She's also the only
one of his children,

who he got to witness

when she took her first steps.

And she's the only one
of his children

who was able to travel with him.

We went everywhere as a family.

He didn't tour without us.

And it was wonderful.

["Love Ballade" continues]

He's been married three times,
I know he's had affairs.

And I guess I was still
a little apprehensive after

"D-3" as I call it.

What makes me think that
this will be different?

And I proposed to her
and she said, "Yes!"

It was just a sense that I had,

and a belief that I had
that it was different.

Here we are.

["Love Ballade" continues]

[song ends]

He wrote that one for me.

[laughs]

[soft piano music]

♪ ♪

[audience applauds]

I was playing too many events,
working too hard.

It was a...

week at the Blue Note with

Jeff Hamilton, Ray Brown,
and Herb Ellis.

Oscar came back to the hotel
that night and said,

"Something's wrong with the
pedal carriage on that piano.

I don't know what's going on,
but, you know,

I missed a note or something.

And, and Brown was
looking at me."

And Ray Brown came to me said,
"You okay?"

I said, "Yeah, why?"

"You started missing
that finger."

I said, "We're all human,
right?"

Somethin' like that,
and I brushed it off.

I didn't really think about it.

[Kelly] And he came back
the next night

and said the same thing.

And then, the next day,
which was their last day,

I noticed that he seemed to be
having difficulty.

I just felt something was wrong.

I couldn't put my finger on it,
but he, he wasn't feeling great,

and he kept saying,
the pedal carriage.

I went to the Blue Note
for the second set...

[soft piano music]

and I heard Oscar miss notes.

Something happened that,
caught my attention,

and I bent over to Kelly,
and I said,

"Something, something's wrong.
Something's not right."

That had never happened.

I had never heard that before.

My wife was in the audience
I remember,

she had a very concerned
look on her face.

We talked and I said, "I think
you need to see a doctor.

Something's going on."

He said, "No, no, no.
I'm okay. I'm okay."

[Oscar] We finished there,
and I came here,

for the Gould's Prize.

I knew I felt kind
of strange at times.

You know, like, sort of--

Wow, where are we? You know,
but it didn't bother me.

And by that time,
I was pretty convinced

that Oscar had had a stroke.

And in the program, they had it
set up for me to play a solo,

and all I know is that my whole
left side had seized.

I can't do my solo.

And... so he played,

and did that, and it wasn't
until we got home that night,

that he finally just--

Kelly said something,

she came to wake me
in the morning.

I didn't recognize her.

I mean, it all kind of, he--

collapsed and he just was,

said, "Okay, I'm ready
to go to see a doctor."

It was scary.

And I spoke to Kelly,

and Oscar went to the doctor
and was diagnosed

as having suffered a stroke.

Mentally, I was in deep trouble.

I was not happy to see
each dawn, you know.

So it's another day,
one of those things.

What now?
That's when I was thinking
of giving it up.

It got to the point where...

I wouldn't even listen to music.

Oscar always said,

"If I can't play
the way I expect,

I'm not walking
out on the stage."

I'm a reasonably devout person

and I prayed at different times

that I would be able
to play again,

and I believe that
the good Lord listened.

I must say also David Young,
who I love dearly,

used to come out
and make me play.

He'd come out, pull his bass
out of his wagon,

and I said, "What are you doing
with that? He said, "We're gonna
play somethin'."

And I said, "I don't feel--"
And he said, 'No, we're
gonna play something."

And he insisted on it.

And we did, and he said,
"I'm going to be in your face

every day,
if that's what it takes."

And that's what brought me back.

And that helped so much,

because it lifted
Oscar's spirits.

[Oscar] Between
the understanding of my wife

and the love of my little girl,

I managed to climb
out of that morass,

and finally went back
to the piano.

The stroke was in May of '93.

In April of '94,
we were in New York,

and he was in a recording studio
with Itzhak Perlman.

So he made that recording,
and then he felt good.

And he had four concerts booked
for that summer.

So a year after his stroke,
he was back out on stage.

[upbeat jazz music playing]

[audience applauds]

♪ ♪

I couldn't envision the fact
that I would never,
ever be able to play.

Ever since then, I hadn't
catered to my left hand.

I just pretended whatever
shape it's in, it's in.

He regained some.
He never regained it fully,

but he did, because
of being so determined.

However impacted his left hand
was, it was still, you know,

thousands of times better
than anybody else's left hand.

And no one, I don't think,

really ever would have
known the difference.

His right hand was so amazing,
you didn't even notice,
how his left hand was!

[jazz music playing]

[audience cheers and applauds]

I came out on stage, and--

they must have given me a
five-minute standing ovation.

I remember Norman put his arms
around me from behind.

I was sitting at the table,
and he said,

"I just want you to know,
I'm very proud of you.

I've never been
that proud of you.

To see you do what
you did tonight."

I saw brother Oscar
in the Blue Note

in New York right after
he had his stroke.

He playin' the piano
with one arm!

And you listen to it,
it looks like it's
three arms working!

And you say,
"Oh, my God, what genius,

Canada's somethin' else!"

[jazz piano playing]

♪ ♪

You are now to assume
the function

of Chancellor
of York University.

[audience applauds]

Dr. Oscar Emmanuel Peterson!

[audience applauds]

["I Got Rhythm" continues]

A new elementary school,

that's been given
a giant of a name.

It will be called
Oscar Peterson Public School.

On behalf of
Toronto City Council,

do hereby proclaim
June 22nd, 2004

as Oscar Peterson Day
in the City of Toronto.

[cheers, applause]

["I Got Rhythm" continues]

[speaking French]

Mr. Oscar Peterson!

[cheers, applause]

["I Got Rhythm" continues]

♪ ♪

In 2002, for Queen Elizabeth's
Golden Jubilee,

there was a big concert.

Oscar's Quartet was one of the

performing groups on the bill.

It's a real pleasure to have
you here in Canada with us.

-[audience applauds]
-Thank you for coming.

[audience applauds]

["I Got Rhythm" continues]

♪ ♪

We found out that there was
an Oscar stamp in Austria.

This guy defines Canada,

so we proceeded to campaign

to bring his stamp,
on his 80th birthday in Toronto.

["I Got Rhythm" continues]

He had the idea of
recording in Vienna.

So we asked if we could
co-produce it with him,

and at the time,
make a DVD of the recording,

and an album of the recording.

["I Got Rhythm" plays]

The fact that they went
out as companion pieces

made all the difference
in the world.

In fact, we ended up
going platinum.

Everything we had done in our
development of our relationship

for the last
seven or eight years

culminated in that very moment.

-["I Got Rhythm" continues]
-[audience applauds]

-[song ends]
-[audience applauds]

[audience cheers and applauds]

[soft piano music playing]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

It was early December, I guess,

and I started worrying that he
was getting pneumonia again,

because he had a very bad cough.

We would talk on the phone,
and it was very clear

that he wasn't right.

He had been sick for a while,
and it became evident

in ways that were very painful.

[soft piano music]

And he was, you know, not,
not doing very well.

So I called the doctor.

Oscar was still in bed.

And she came upstairs
and sat and talked to him,

and he sat up and talked

and she said, "You know,
Kelly's worried about you.

So what do you think,
you want to get dressed
and go downstairs?"

And he said, "Yeah, okay."

We had a good week.

Our wedding anniversary,
all of that.

And then, I went to bed

and then I could
hear him struggling.

And he died very early
in the morning.

It was, you know, pretty awful.

I was glad I was there.

I was glad I was right with him.

The hard part was...

when I woke up
and there was silence.

I don't want to get up.

I don't want to turn a light on.

I don't want it to be real.

I don't want to go wake
Celine up and tell her.

I woke her up and

she came and stood
in the doorway.

And she said, "No, Mom.
He's just sleeping."

And I said,

"He's not just sleeping."

Our boxer went in the bedroom,
went over,

and was licking Oscars hand,

that was at the edge of the bed,

and Oscar didn't wake up.

And Celine was saying,
"He's gonna to wake up.

He's gonna wake up."

And then Smedley started
licking Oscar's face--

And Oscar didn't wake up.

And then Smedley jumped

right on top of Oscar.

This, you know, 75-pound boxer,

and that's when Celine knew...

that he really was gone.

I picked up the phone,
and Celine said, "He's gone."

I miss him.

Oh, yeah.

[whispers] Yeah.

[soft music playing]

There's so much,
you know, to miss.

The laughter and...

zest for life.

Tonight we report on the
passing of a music legend,

Jazz great Oscar Peterson

has died at his home in Canada.

[in German] The jazz legend,
Oscar Peterson is dead.

[in French] The Montreal pianist
Oscar Peterson died yesterday.

He was 82.

[woman newscaster] Oscar
Peterson is being remembered

as one of the greatest jazz
pianists of his generation,

[speaking Danish]

♪ ♪

[song ends]

[audience applauds]

♪ This was a lovely way ♪

♪ To spend an evening ♪

♪ Can't think of anything ♪

♪ ♪

♪ I'd rather do ♪

♪ ♪

Oscar Peterson got
a send-off today,

rarely seen in this country.

There was a special tribute
concert in Toronto,

broadcast live.

When I first saw Oscar,

it would be equivalent to U2

and the Stones comin' to town.

It's a real Canadian story,
you know,

a kid from Saint-Henri
in Montreal,

and went on to become the

greatest jazz pianist
in the world!

So I owe him everything,
and he's irreplaceable!

Oscar Peterson has left
an indelible mark

on the cultural heritage

of the entire world.

[applause]

♪ ♪

His legacy will
outlive all of us.

I'm certain of that.

[reporter] Parliament Hill
is sprinkled with statues

of past prime ministers,

but just down the street
there's a new guy in town,

and Oscar Peterson's
already stealing the show,

just like he always did.

The Bosendorfer technician

came from Vienna, and said,

"I want to come and look after
Mr. Peterson's piano for you."

So he came, he said,

"The piano is in
wonderful condition,

but it needs to be played."

Then the idea came,

what if I invite other pianists

to come here and play

Oscar's compositions
on Oscar's piano?

And then we launched with
a concert on this very stage.

And the audiences love it.

We've sold out every
single concert.

And to me, that's people coming

because it's Oscar's music.

[piano music playing]

[audience applauds]

I'm truly honored to be
standing here tonight,

accepting this very special
honor for my father.

Dad said, "I've always wanted
to feel wanted at home.

I've always wanted to feel
respected at home,

and I've always wanted
to feel honored at home."

Well, Dad, you are,
and we love you.

Thank you so much.

[loud audience applause]

Jazz is very healthy.

There are new artists
that are

incorporating jazz
with other genres

so that the lines
are more blurred

between jazz and R&B,

and hip hop and pop.

Take Kendrick Lamar,

his first really huge record was

"To pimp a butterfly."

Who were his producers?

There were all jazz guys.

Jazz music will remain
alive and well

with the crew of young musicians

who actually love
Oscar Peterson.

[Batiste] There's gonna be
imitations,

there's going to be things
that are derivative,

but it will never be Oscar.

When you figure that out,

people will listen
to it forever.

The greatest there was.

He's the absolute greatest, man.

He was.

There's Oscar. There's Duke.

These are the center
of the universe.

Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson,

those guys were gods to me.

Someone says, "Randy,
who is Oscar Peterson?"

I say...

"We stand on the
shoulders of giants."

[Lewis] Oscar Peterson is

what Muhammad Ali
meant to the boxing,

and what Michael Jordan
meant to basketball.

I mean, they were the best
in their business.

We need to be mindful
of how talented he was,

because he was Canada's
gift to the world.

He's one of these musicians

who comes up as a child prodigy,

and then never sputters.

Oscar Peterson was
the ultimate real deal.

Nobody will ever
take Oscar's place.

He stands at the
top of the mountain.

[soft dramatic piano music]

♪ ♪

[Oscar] I have nothing to be
regretful about.

There have been some
ups and downs in my life.

I'm very happy that

for the better part of my life

I've been a very fortunate

and thankful person for

what's happened to me.

[piano music ends]

[light piano jazz plays]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[audience applauds]

Hey Oscar, this is for you.

[fast-paced piano melody]

♪ ♪

Woo!
Ba dop doo dee, man, O. P.!