Duos, trios, and quartets , 1964 According to an interview with
Norman Granz, Granz heard a radio program broadcasting from a local club while taking a cab to the
Montreal airport. He was so impressed that he told the driver to take him to the club so he could meet the pianist. Granz had seen Peterson before this but was underwhelmed. In 1949, he introduced Peterson in New York City at a
Jazz at the Philharmonic concert at
Carnegie Hall. In 1950, Peterson worked in a duo with double bassist
Ray Brown. In the early 1950s, he began performing with Brown and drummer
Charlie Smith as the Oscar Peterson Trio. Shortly afterward Smith was replaced by swing guitarist
Irving Ashby, who had been a member of the
Nat King Cole Trio. Ashby was soon replaced by
Barney Kessel, then
Herb Ellis stepped in in 1953 after Kessel grew weary of touring. The trio remained together from 1953 to 1958, often touring with Jazz at the Philharmonic. By 1956, Peterson's performances were also showcased on national radio networks by
Ben Selvin within the
RCA Thesaurus transcriptions library. He considered the trio with Brown and Ellis "the most stimulating" and productive setting for public performances and studio recordings. Their last recording,
On the Town with the Oscar Peterson Trio, recorded live at the
Town Tavern in Toronto, captured a remarkable degree of emotional as well as musical understanding among three players. When Ellis departed in 1958, they hired drummer
Ed Thigpen because they felt no guitarist could compare to Ellis. Peterson was open to experimental collaborations with jazz musicians such as saxophonist
Ben Webster, trumpeter
Clark Terry, and vibraphonist
Milt Jackson. In 1961, the Peterson trio with Jackson recorded the album
Very Tall. Solo recordings by Peterson were rare until
Exclusively for My Friends (
MPS), a series of albums that were his response to pianists such as
Bill Evans and
McCoy Tyner. He recorded for
Pablo, led by Norman Granz, after the label was founded in 1973, including the
soundtrack for the 1978 thriller
The Silent Partner. In the 1980s, Peterson played in a duo with pianist Herbie Hancock. In the late 1980s and 1990s, after a stroke, Peterson made performances and recordings with his protégé
Benny Green. In the 1990s and 2000s, Peterson recorded several albums accompanied by a combo for
Telarc.
Ill health and later years Peterson had arthritis from his youth, and in later years he had trouble buttoning his shirt. He had never been slender, and his weight increase to hindered his mobility. He had
hip replacement surgery in the early 1990s. Although the surgery was successful, his mobility was still hampered. He then mentored the
York University jazz program and was the Chancellor of the university for several years in the early 1990s. He published jazz piano etudes for practice. In 1993, a
stroke weakened his left side and removed him from work for two years. During the same year, incoming prime minister
Jean Chrétien, Peterson's friend and fan, offered him the position of
Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. According to Chrétien, Peterson declined the job due to ill health related to the stroke. Although he recovered some dexterity in his left hand, his piano playing was diminished, and his style relied principally on his right hand. In 1995, he returned to occasional public performances and recorded for Telarc. In 1997, he received the
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award. His friend, Canadian politician and amateur pianist
Bob Rae, said: "a one-handed Oscar was better than just about anyone with two hands." In 2003, Peterson recorded the DVD
A Night in Vienna for
Verve with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen,
Ulf Wakenius, and Martin Drew. He continued to tour the U.S. and Europe, though at most one month a year, with rest between concerts. In 2007, his health declined. He canceled his plans to perform at the
Toronto Jazz Festival and a Carnegie Hall all-star concert that was to be given in his honour. Peterson died on December 23, 2007, of
kidney failure at his home in
Mississauga, Ontario. ==Personal life==