Oscar Emmanuel Peterson CC CQ OOnt was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the “Maharaja of the keyboard” by Duke Ellington, “O.P.” by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career. He is considered to have been one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, who played thousands of live concerts to audiences worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years. #
Oscar Peterson
8 Quotes
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I am the worlds laziest writer. ∞
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We’re not like pop musicians who have to perform the same top ten tunes every night of a tour. ∞
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Some people try to get very philosophical and cerebral about what they’re trying to say with jazz. You don’t need any prologues, you just play. If you have something to say of any worth then people will listen to you. ∞
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I don’t do something because I think it will sell 30 million albums. I couldn’t care less. If it sells one, it sells one. ∞
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Too many jazz pianists limit themselves to a personal style, a trademark, so to speak. They confine themselves to one type of playing. I believe in using the entire piano as a single instrument capable of expressing every possible musical idea. I have no one style. I play as I feel. ∞
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I don’t believe that a lot of the things I hear on the air today are going to be played for as long a time as Coleman Hawkins records or Brahms concertos. ∞
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Montreal was a very active jazz center until club owners started putting in strippers instead of music. Before long, there was nothing to hear. ∞
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It’s the group sound that’s important, even when you’re playing a solo. You not only have to know your own instrument, you must know the others and how to back them up at all times. That’s jazz. ∞
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