Obituaries

Oscar Peterson and George MacDonald Fraser

The virtuoso jazz pianist whose fingers flew like birds

Oscar Peterson, uniquely among great jazz pianists, was a master of many forms. As a soloist, he was so sweeping, fast, and complex that many likened him to the 19th-century genius Franz Liszt. He was also a superb accompanist, playing alongside such giants as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dizzy Gillespie. And he thrived in piano-bass-guitar trios, in which his ferocious rhythm and drive literally made drums unnecessary. “Oscar Peterson plays the best ivory box I’ve ever heard,” said Count Basie. Benny Green declared, “Oscar can do more with one hand than many pianists can do with two.” Peterson died of kidney failure at 82.

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