Happy Oscar Peterson Day

Tweet

Oscar Peterson was born in Montreal on this day 100 years ago. Unfortunately, he died in 2007, but we're celebrating the centenary of his birth, anyway. Wikipedia says of him, "A jazz pianist who possessed dazzling, fluid technique and always delivered the musical goods in a powerfully swinging style." Louis Armstrong called him “the man with four hands.” His popular “Hymn to Freedom” became an anthem of the US civil rights movement. He also composed 'A Royal Wedding Suite' for the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana). He received a list of awards and honours as long as your arm, including being made an officer of the Order of Canada, later upgraded to Companion of the Order of Canada. (Don't ask me what the difference is.) I could go on and on but I'll just say, if you want to know more about this Canadian legend, just type Oscar Peterson into your favorite search engine and settle down for a long read.