{"id":72208,"date":"2021-09-15T11:03:48","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T15:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=72208"},"modified":"2021-09-15T12:23:24","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T16:23:24","slug":"feature-oscar-peterson-black-white-gives-canadian-treasure-place-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2021\/09\/15\/feature-oscar-peterson-black-white-gives-canadian-treasure-place-history\/","title":{"rendered":"FEATURE | \u2018Oscar Peterson: Black + White\u2019 Gives A Canadian Treasure His Place In History"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"'Oscar
‘Oscar Peterson: Black + White’ (Image courtesy of TIFF)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI am a jazz pianist, that\u2019s all I want to be,\u201d says Oscar Peterson in director Barry Avrich\u2019s new documentary, an unabashed love letter to the Canadian pianist and jazz great.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a simple statement, and low key in a typically Canadian way. It\u2019s the more regrettable Canadian penchant for failing to elevate our heroes that drove Avrich to create Oscar Peterson: Black + White<\/em>, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t be a superstar and stay in Canada,\u201d Avrich notes. \u201cThose that stayed paid a price. They weren\u2019t global superstars in the minds of Canadians because they live here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avrich describes growing up in Montreal in a household where one of the essential records was a Peterson release. His mother took him to live concerts as Place des Arts, where he saw many great artists play. \u201cIncluding Oscar Peterson, who was from Montreal \u2014 nobody knew that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"'Oscar
‘Oscar Peterson: Black + White’ (Image courtesy of TIFF)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those dazzling hands<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cWhat inspired the project?\u201d Avrich asks. \u201cOne is that, I never forgot about Oscar Peterson.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the years since his death in 2007, it\u2019s been easy to forget just how dazzling Oscar’s playing style was. The film redresses that situation with a steady stream of both his music and clips of him playing. Those hands fly up and down the entire length of the keyboard with an ease that\u2019s jaw dropping at times.<\/p>\n

Indeed, as Billy Joel relates, the first time he heard Oscar on a record, he was convinced there were two guys playing.<\/p>\n

Joel is just one of the many music and jazz greats who appear in the documentary to talk about Oscar and his music. That roster includes Herbie Hancock, Oscar winner Jon Batiste (another jazz cat who credits a classical music foundation<\/a>), and fellow pianist Ramsey Lewis, who says at one point that Oscar, \u201cfrightened the hell out of people, pianistically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with archival footage, the doc includes contemporary performances by Measha Brueggergosman, Joe Sealy, pianist Robi Botos, and bassist Dave Young, among others.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, the pandemic, which grounded the tours of many artists, made putting the film together a little easier. \u201cGetting musicians together to do that concert,\u201d Avrich says, \u201cto be able to get the cast we did, people were not touring. To have them available was a coup.\u201d<\/p>\n

His meteoric rise from the working class streets of east Montreal to jazz stages by the time he was a teenager is documented. Oscar himself credits a classical music foundation<\/a> for giving him that dizzying technical facility, and his classical music teacher for being the first person who made him believe he could do something with his talent.<\/p>\n

\"'Oscar
‘Oscar Peterson: Black + White’ (Image courtesy of TIFF)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A generous musicality<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Later, the movie charts his run to international fame, and a life of largely touring the world for many years. It saw him through three divorces and several children, as the doc notes. One section of the movie deals with Oscar\u2019s involvement in the Civil Rights movement, and some of his experiences travelling through the American South during the 1950s and 1960s. The last segments deal with his later life, including happy final marriage to Kelly, (who appears in the movie), stroke, and incredible ability to play after it, even with an impaired left hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most amazing thing about his music that I discovered through making this documentary was his generosity,\u201d says Avrich. \u201cIt might have been in his DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through interviews, archival footage, and commentary, a portrait of the man emerges. He seems to have genuinely been<\/em> that affable giant we\u2019d see on stage and in footage, always smiling. Oscar\u2019s musical generosity also comes through the interviews. Unlike with many other bandleaders, Peterson allowed each member of his various ensembles over the decades to shine, and even after years on the road, they remained good friends. That\u2019s not so typical in the upper echelons of the music biz.<\/p>\n