Oscar Peterson was an inadvertent mentor to many musicians he never even met. Gifted New Jersey-born pianist Taurey Butler made Peterson’s birthplace, Montreal, his home, describing his exploration of Peterson’s music as a quest. “Oscar is like the Bible,” Butler told CBC Music, noting Peterson’s virtuosity, energy and humanity. 

Growing up in a home filled with music, Peterson was fortunate to have a father who was a strong believer in music education, offering each child in the Peterson family piano lessons. And so young Oscar began playing at the age of five. His first teacher was his older sister, Daisy, known for teaching several Canadian jazz musicians, including award-winning pianist Oliver Jones. Trusted with music theory and piano lessons for her siblings, Daisy was instrumental in the musical evolution of her brother Oscar, recognising his innate talent and knowing there was “something extra special” about him. Peterson credited her, alongside his classical piano teacher Paul de Marky, for instilling in him the conviction that he had a gift to offer the world.

Oliver Jones used to listen to Peterson practice while sitting on his stoop. They lived only a few blocks from each other in the St. Henri neighborhood of Montreal, a hub of the black community. “Oscar Peterson encouraged me. . . It’s because of him that I became the musician I did,” recalls Jones. 

Peterson went on to impact generations of musicians, and pianists in particular — not only as a master instrumentalist and performer, but as a mentor and educator. From Jones, through jazz icons like Ella Fitzgerald and Herbie Hancock, Peterson is regarded as a highly influential and inspiring figure. In the documentary film “In the Key of Oscar” (National Film Board of Canada, 1991), Hancock refers to him not only as “the greatest living influence on jazz piano,” but also as a personal mentor. “To me he’s like a teacher,” says Ella Fitzgerald, who toured the world with Peterson as part of Jazz at the Philharmonic in the 1950s. 

Peterson’s passion for imparting knowledge and encouraging young talent lasted a lifetime. He often gave master classes when performing at colleges, universities and jazz festivals. He also visited elementary schools, offering music classes. Peterson was an adjunct professor at Toronto’s York University for many years, mentoring the jazz program, and serving as the university’s Chancellor in the early 1990s. He taught classes and workshops at Humber College as well, and published jazz piano practice études. 

In the early 1960s Peterson founded the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, with Ray Brown, Ed Thigpen, and Phil Nimmons. Headed by Peterson for five years, and operating independently, with no grants or government funding, the school attracted students from all over the world, as well as prominent musicians. It was reluctantly closed, as Peterson’s tour schedule was too demanding. But he continued teaching, holding seminars and master classes as often as he could while on the road, cherishing the time spent mentoring small groups of young artists. 

“Oscar always valued education as paramount,” says Neil Schwartzman, Founding Director of the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall at Montreal’s Concordia University, noting Peterson’s life-long goal to support arts education. “He permitted the late-great Quebec sculptor Mark Prent to take a bronze cast of his hands, and donated an expensive digital recorder to the recording studio.” The university awarded Peterson the Loyola Medal, its highest honor, as well as an honorary doctorate, renaming its concert hall in Peterson’s name, and establishing a scholarship for music students in his honour.

“I can honestly say that he was a true friend to me, and I know that his love and belief are unending magical blessings to the whole of my life,” protégé Benny Green wrote in a letter published in JazzTimes magazine in 2009. 

Recipient of the Glenn Gould Prize, celebrating “a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts,” Oscar Peterson is remembered not only as a genius; he is treasured for his generous, passionate heart in sharing knowledge, and his dedication to others along their journeys as musicians.

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Sharonne Cohen is a Montreal-based writer and editor. Passionate about arts, culture and the creative imagination, she has been a music journalist since 2001, contributing to publications including DownBeat, JazzTimes, Okayplayer, VICE/Noisey, Afropop Worldwide, The Revivalist, and La Scena Musicale. Her photographs often accompany her writing.

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_{Header image: Oscar Peterson performs with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen at Jazz At The Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw, Noord-Holland, Amsterdam. Photo: Rossem, Wim van / Anefo. Nationaal Archief, CC0.}