OP turns 80 tomorrow, August 15th.
Canada Post is releasing a special OP stamp in celebration.
Universal Music is holding a birthday party at the Yonge/ Bloor HMV in Toronto, at 12:15pm. OP's friends and surprise guests are expected to show up and play. Diana's scheduled to be there so maybe EC will tag along...
Happy birthday to Oscar Peterson
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scielle
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http://www.jazz.fm (or 91.1 FM in T.O.) is going to be there and broadcasting live at about 12pm (and yes, they stream).
Oscar Peterson's Canadian.
There are days when it seems like half of the best known Americans are Canadian.
There are days when it seems like half of the best known Americans are Canadian.
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!
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scielle
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Well, not only was EC there, he actually wrote some beautiful lyrics to an Oscar Peterson tune called When Summer Comes, which Diana performed in tribute. I would transcribe it (coz I recorded it on my cell, but then accidentally deleted it...) She said some lovely words, then accompanied on the piano while leading everyone in a rousing Happy Birthday, and went on to cut OP's cake. After the more formal part of the event was over, OP himself went up to play a tune, with his wife and daughter up on stage, and EC came up to hold Diana and the room went silent and everyone just stood there transfixed and listened to the man do his thing. Pretty amazing to be in his company.
BTW, EC was looking very smug, all in black with a burgundy/ purple tie. He and DK kept us all waiting for an hour b/c their plane from NYC was cancelled yesterday and delayed this morning. But they were both lovely when they got there, and the crowds were small so lots of people got autographs, pics, handshakes.
All in all, a really nice ceremony. Can't find the stamp picture anywhere on the net but I'm sure it'll turn up.
Read more here:
http://www.canada.com/national/national ... 51cab2ee0b
BTW, EC was looking very smug, all in black with a burgundy/ purple tie. He and DK kept us all waiting for an hour b/c their plane from NYC was cancelled yesterday and delayed this morning. But they were both lovely when they got there, and the crowds were small so lots of people got autographs, pics, handshakes.
All in all, a really nice ceremony. Can't find the stamp picture anywhere on the net but I'm sure it'll turn up.
Read more here:
http://www.canada.com/national/national ... 51cab2ee0b
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scielle
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The CityTV blurb and video are here:
http://www.pulse24.com/Showbiz/Top_Stor ... 2/page.asp
CTV here: (with EC looking rather smug)
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate/ ... hub=Search
And some pictures here:
http://umusic.ca/site/media/oscarpeters ... ide_01.php
http://www.jazz.fm/temporary_files/oscar_bday.html
http://www.pulse24.com/Showbiz/Top_Stor ... 2/page.asp
CTV here: (with EC looking rather smug)
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate/ ... hub=Search
And some pictures here:
http://umusic.ca/site/media/oscarpeters ... ide_01.php
http://www.jazz.fm/temporary_files/oscar_bday.html
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verbal gymnastics
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scielle
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I posted the lyrics here
Here's another article:
Oscar puts his stamp on 80; Legendary musician Oscar Peterson calls postal stamp in his honour the high note of his career Diana Krall, Elvis Costello and hundreds of other fans worship pianist, writes Martin Knelman
Martin Knelman
Toronto Star
16 August 2005
The Toronto Star
A03
She may be the world's leading diva among contemporary jazz singers, but yesterday afternoon at HMV's flagship Yonge and Dundas store, Diana Krall seemed like an excited schoolgirl in the presence of her lifelong idol, Oscar Peterson.
"It is such an honour to be here with the man who inspires me every day," Krall explained before sitting down to play. "I'm so nervous I think I forgot how to play the piano."
She then launched into an appropriately swinging version of "Happy Birthday" for Peterson, who turned 80 yesterday.
Along with personal and professional partner Elvis Costello, Krall had endured threatening New York skies and cancelled flights so she could get to downtown Toronto for the occasion, which included the unveiling of Canada Post's new 50-cent Oscar Peterson stamp.
The birthday boy, members of his family and executives of Universal Music, Canada Post and HMV - as well as 250 jazz fans who turned up - had been kept waiting more than an hour as proceedings were held up by the late arrival of Krall's flight.
The speechmakers kept calling the legendary pianist "Dr. Peterson," and one repeatedly referred to his famous fan as "Mrs. Krall." But to jazz lovers they are known as Oscar and Diana.
Peterson, flanked by relatives and publicists, arrived in his wheelchair, looking more dignified than the average jazz musician, sporting a burgundy blazer, necktie, grey pants and shiny reddish-brown loafers.
The man who won eight Grammys, nine Hall of Fame awards and 16 honorary degrees called the unveiling of the new stamp "the most meaningful event of my career."
He thanked not only his fans, colleagues and family but most startlingly his Anglican priest, Jennifer Reid, and Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion for helping him get through some dark times.
Born Aug. 15, 1925 in Montreal, Peterson was the fourth of five children. His father rode trains from one end of Canada to the other as a Canadian Pacific Railway porter. In those days, that was virtually the only kind of work available for a black man in this country. Early on, Oscar's father decided that music was the secret to a better life for his children.
Tuberculosis forced Peterson to switch from trumpet to piano. He chose jazz over classical piano because he wanted more freedom to improvise and interpret than he would be allowed if he stuck to J.S. Bach.
When he was 14, Peterson won a national CBC music contest and became the star of a weekly local broadcast. He quit school to pursue his career. And when New York jazz impresario Norman Granz visited Montreal and happened to hear Peterson on the radio during a taxi ride, music history was made.
He made Peterson part of his Jazz at Carnegie Hall program, and soon had him touring with Ella Fitzgerald. Yet for more than half a century, Canada has remained his home.
At yesterday's HMV bash, Krall explained how as a 16-year-old from Nanaimo, she had the formative experience of attending a concert that Peterson and Fitzgerald gave at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver.
"After that night, I knew what swing was, and my life was never the same," said Krall, who at 40 is half as old as her mentor.
"Oscar Peterson's music gives you both tears and laughter," she said. "I listen to it every day, and we live by it."
Then she sang "When Summer Comes."
Peterson wrote the music years ago. Costello has just written lyrics for the tune, and Krall was performing it for the first time.
For most of the time, Peterson stayed in the wheelchair he has had to use since a stroke in 1993. Then a moment came when the party seemed to be over. Peterson had already blown out the candles on his cake, and cut the first slices. People were starting to leave.
Peterson then signalled he wanted to play a new piece.
The piece, called "Requiem," is a moving tribute to some of the legendary jazz figures who are no longer around - including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Ray Brown (a key member of Peterson's group for decades).
And then, a few minutes later, he was on his way home to Mississauga for a gathering last night of family and friends.
When Peterson invited Krall and Costello to attend, the adoring diva murmured, "As long as we wouldn't be intruding."
."
Here's another article:
Oscar puts his stamp on 80; Legendary musician Oscar Peterson calls postal stamp in his honour the high note of his career Diana Krall, Elvis Costello and hundreds of other fans worship pianist, writes Martin Knelman
Martin Knelman
Toronto Star
16 August 2005
The Toronto Star
A03
She may be the world's leading diva among contemporary jazz singers, but yesterday afternoon at HMV's flagship Yonge and Dundas store, Diana Krall seemed like an excited schoolgirl in the presence of her lifelong idol, Oscar Peterson.
"It is such an honour to be here with the man who inspires me every day," Krall explained before sitting down to play. "I'm so nervous I think I forgot how to play the piano."
She then launched into an appropriately swinging version of "Happy Birthday" for Peterson, who turned 80 yesterday.
Along with personal and professional partner Elvis Costello, Krall had endured threatening New York skies and cancelled flights so she could get to downtown Toronto for the occasion, which included the unveiling of Canada Post's new 50-cent Oscar Peterson stamp.
The birthday boy, members of his family and executives of Universal Music, Canada Post and HMV - as well as 250 jazz fans who turned up - had been kept waiting more than an hour as proceedings were held up by the late arrival of Krall's flight.
The speechmakers kept calling the legendary pianist "Dr. Peterson," and one repeatedly referred to his famous fan as "Mrs. Krall." But to jazz lovers they are known as Oscar and Diana.
Peterson, flanked by relatives and publicists, arrived in his wheelchair, looking more dignified than the average jazz musician, sporting a burgundy blazer, necktie, grey pants and shiny reddish-brown loafers.
The man who won eight Grammys, nine Hall of Fame awards and 16 honorary degrees called the unveiling of the new stamp "the most meaningful event of my career."
He thanked not only his fans, colleagues and family but most startlingly his Anglican priest, Jennifer Reid, and Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion for helping him get through some dark times.
Born Aug. 15, 1925 in Montreal, Peterson was the fourth of five children. His father rode trains from one end of Canada to the other as a Canadian Pacific Railway porter. In those days, that was virtually the only kind of work available for a black man in this country. Early on, Oscar's father decided that music was the secret to a better life for his children.
Tuberculosis forced Peterson to switch from trumpet to piano. He chose jazz over classical piano because he wanted more freedom to improvise and interpret than he would be allowed if he stuck to J.S. Bach.
When he was 14, Peterson won a national CBC music contest and became the star of a weekly local broadcast. He quit school to pursue his career. And when New York jazz impresario Norman Granz visited Montreal and happened to hear Peterson on the radio during a taxi ride, music history was made.
He made Peterson part of his Jazz at Carnegie Hall program, and soon had him touring with Ella Fitzgerald. Yet for more than half a century, Canada has remained his home.
At yesterday's HMV bash, Krall explained how as a 16-year-old from Nanaimo, she had the formative experience of attending a concert that Peterson and Fitzgerald gave at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver.
"After that night, I knew what swing was, and my life was never the same," said Krall, who at 40 is half as old as her mentor.
"Oscar Peterson's music gives you both tears and laughter," she said. "I listen to it every day, and we live by it."
Then she sang "When Summer Comes."
Peterson wrote the music years ago. Costello has just written lyrics for the tune, and Krall was performing it for the first time.
For most of the time, Peterson stayed in the wheelchair he has had to use since a stroke in 1993. Then a moment came when the party seemed to be over. Peterson had already blown out the candles on his cake, and cut the first slices. People were starting to leave.
Peterson then signalled he wanted to play a new piece.
The piece, called "Requiem," is a moving tribute to some of the legendary jazz figures who are no longer around - including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Ray Brown (a key member of Peterson's group for decades).
And then, a few minutes later, he was on his way home to Mississauga for a gathering last night of family and friends.
When Peterson invited Krall and Costello to attend, the adoring diva murmured, "As long as we wouldn't be intruding."
."
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martinfoyle
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scielle
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That's not the half of it. I got an email from the jazz.fm people with some really smoochy ones - but they're not mine to publish as I please so I'm not posting them.verbal gymnastics wrote: The pictures of Elvis and Diana look very lovey dovey don't they?
If you wanna see - email me at zenith_zula@hotmail.com, and I'll forward them your way.
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verbal gymnastics
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However my breakfast has yet to be digested and I don't think I could stomach it.-
Who Shot Sam?
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