Oscar Peterson (1925-2007) would have been 100 years old on August 15, and his daughter Celine has taken to the stage more than once at the Maison Symphonique to highlight the tribute program. On July 4, 2025, OP was still the most renowned Montreal musician in jazz history. Successor to the first supravirtuoso of modern jazz piano, the great Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson was in turn the supravirtuoso of his generation, the biggest jazz piano star of the ’50s and early ’60s.
For this centenary, various musical events commemorate this celebrated native of Little Burgundy. The most important is undoubtedly the one at the Maison Symphonique, where drummer Jim Doxas was in charge of the first part of the program, but let’s not forget that he honored OP’s music earlier this week at the FIJM, alongside his brother, saxophonist Chester (Chet), pianist Taurey Butler, trumpeter Lex French and other MTL colleagues.
On stage at the Maison symphonique, Jim Doxas was surrounded by the excellent Roma pianist Robi Botos, guitarist Jocelyn Gould and bassist Mike Downes. They played “Backyard Blues” and “When Summer Comes,” with Robi Botos’ piano playing a direct descendant. High-flying and voluptuous! Guests joined the basic quartet: Chet Doxas and Lex French took part in a medley of iconic OP pieces, including the magnificent ballad “The Night We Call It A Day,” a must-hear on an OP album entitled The Trio, on the Verve label.
And that’s not counting singer Paul Marinaro, a close friend of the Peterson clan, who came to perform “Taking A Chance on Love” and “Goodbye Old Friend” – whose lyrics were written after the sudden death in 2005 of the great double bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, long-time sideman of the century-old pianist.
The second part of the program consisted of a performance of the eight parts of Oscar Peterson’s Canadiana Suite with the same ensemble, this time expanded to include 14 wind instruments, making for a very fine big band, under the direction of John Clayton. A wise, somewhat monochrome performance, nevertheless respectful of the late Oscar’s most ambitious work.
A surprise at the very end: our beloved Oliver Jones came to present the Oscar Peterson Award to its new recipient, none other than the evening’s musical director: Chet Doxas, who was Oliver’s sideman for a very long time. And the nonagenarian is still able to play!
Well, it’s no longer the time for grand sparages, but the big hands of the Montreal pianist, a worthy successor to OP for music lovers here, are still working and spreading beautiful keyboard chords throughout the cosmos. This would never have happened if Oscar Peterson and his sister Daisy, who was his piano teacher, had never existed.
Photo : Emmanuel Novak Bélanger
