Born in Canada in 1925, Oscar Peterson was convinced by jazz producer Norman Granz in 1949 to travel to the United States, where he became one of the most featured musicians in the “Granz caravan”, with respect to both studio recordings and as part of the touring Jazz at the Philharmonic pack. Peterson recorded as an accompanist for many other stars, and also as the leader of his own trio. Besides playing the piano, Peterson had a close relationship to singing. He was a huge Frank Sinatra fan (he even recorded an instrumental tribute album to the singer titled A Jazz Portrait of Frank Sinatra. Out of respect, he didn’t sing on the album). Peterson’s relationship to singing, however, wasn’t limited to his appreciation as a fan. In fact, he used to sing professionally and even recorded some albums showcasing his vocals (his singing style had strong connections to that of another pianist/singer: Nat King Cole, for whom he recorded another tribute, with vocals this time, titled With Respect to Nat). In fact, Peterson’s singing was closely related to that of Cole. When singing, the pianist didn’t put his emphasis on the hard swing he usually offered on his main instrument, but preferred a kind of romantic mood. Like many other jazz pianists of the period, Peterson was a lover of good melodies, and also enjoyed playing and singing them with subtle embellishment. On this edition we present all of Oscar Peterson’s earliest vocal recordings (that is, all of his existing vocals up to his 1965 Nat King Cole tribute).
