Quotes by Oscar Peterson

About Oscar Peterson:

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson is considered to have been one of the greatest jazz pianists, and played thousands of concerts worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I am the worlds laziest writer.

Oscar Peterson

I believe in using the entire piano as a single instrument capable of expressing every possible musical idea.

Oscar Peterson

I don't do something because I think it will sell 30 million albums. I couldn't care less. If it sells one, it sells one.

Oscar Peterson

I have no one style.

Oscar Peterson

I play as I feel.

Oscar Peterson

If you have something to say of any worth then people will listen to you.

Oscar Peterson

It's the group sound that's important, even when you're playing a solo.

Oscar Peterson

Some people try to get very philosophical and cerebral about what they're trying to say with jazz. You don't need any prologues, you just play.

Oscar Peterson

Too many jazz pianists limit themselves to a personal style, a trademark, so to speak. They confine themselves to one type of playing.

Oscar Peterson

We're not like pop musicians who have to perform the same top ten tunes every night of a tour.

Oscar Peterson

You not only have to know your own instrument, you must know the others and how to back them up at all times. That's jazz.

Oscar Peterson

I don't believe that a lot of the things I hear on the air today are going to be played for as long a time as Coleman Hawkins records or Brahms concertos.

Oscar Peterson

The music field was the first to break down racial barriers, because in order to play together, you have to love the people you are playing with, and if you have any racial inhibitions, you wouldn't be able to do that.

Oscar Peterson

Author Bio

  • NameOscar Peterson
  • DescriptionCanadian jazz pianist and composer
  • AliasesOscar Emmanuel Peterson
  • BornAugust 15, 1925
  • DiedDecember 23, 2007
  • CountryCanada
  • ProfessionPianist; Composer; Singer; Musicologist; Jazz Musician
  • AwardsCanadian Music Hall Of Fame; Governor General's Awards; Glenn Gould Prize; Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; Praemium Imperiale; BBC Jazz Awards; Companion Of The Order Of Canada; Order Of Ontario; Knight Of The National Order Of Quebec; Officier Des Arts Et Des Lettres?; Loyola Medal; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award; Grammy Award