Oscar Peterson: The Will to Swing [Paperback]

Gene Lees (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2000

An engaging biography of a living musical legend, Oscar Peterson. A man Duke Ellington once called the " maharajah of the piano." Gene Lees carefully builds up the portrait of Peterson, his childhood and what it meant to be be black and talented in Montreal in the 1940s, hist three marriages and six children, his musical partners (Ray Brown, Herb Ellis and Ed Thigpen), his musical friends and colleagues (Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum and Lester Young, amongst others) and the critical controversy and mythology that have long surrounded Peterson. This updated version has a new chapter that covers Peterson's appointment as Chancellor of York University; his receipt of ten honorary doctorates and the Order of Canada; his stroke and partial recovery; the origins and fallout of his cancelled North American tour and much more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[An] enthusiastic account of a musician's development as the thinking person's pianist. (The New York Times Book Review )

There are five requisites for a readable and valuable book on jazz: enthusiasm, wit, insight, compassion, and technical knowledge of the music. Gene Lees has them all. (Leonard Feather Los Angeles Times )

A fine, richly detailed book...that explains the essence of jazz and of jazz playing as well as any written. (The Toronto Sun )

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Cooper Square Press; 2nd edition (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815410212
• ISBN-13: 978-0815410218
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,211,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( P ) > Peterson, Oscar

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lees paints portrait of legendary pianist, August 7, 2000

By 

P. Pearce - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Oscar Peterson: The Will to Swing (Paperback)

This updated version of the great jazz pianist is an excellent work by Mr. Lees. Few other writers could do justice to this project. Gene Lees has known most of the legends of jazz and counts many as personal friends. Only someone like Lees could have done such an extensive piece on this celebrated artist. The story of Oscar Peterson and his impact on modern jazz is worthy of 5 stars. Highly recommended for students of jazz history and those many fans that have collected OP's recordings for decades. A marvelous effort by the author.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The life of a remarkable person and a fabulous pianist, November 10, 2007

By 

R. M. Peterson (Santa Fe, NM) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Oscar Peterson: The Will to Swing (Paperback)

This is somewhat of a mixed bag, uneasily straddling the divide between a fan's gushy enthusiasm and a critic's more distanced perspective. I, in turn, am torn between giving it 3 or 4 stars. Perhaps it is the fan in me that ultimately nudges my decision upwards to the fourth star.

In my youth I spent countless hours at the piano, almost all of it devoted to classical music. Hence, I have less of a feel for jazz piano than I would like. But for a long time, Oscar Peterson has been one of my favorite jazz pianists (along with Bill Evans, until about a decade ago when I first was introduced to Art Tatum, who may even edge out OP). I also was familiar with the NPR duo/interview disc Marian McPartland did with Peterson, and I was impressed with his obvious intellect, thoughtfulness, and dignity.

With all that as background, I opened this book with keen anticipation. I learned that Oscar Peterson, even putting aside his mammoth musical ability, is a remarkable and admirable person. (So, too, were his father and sister, both of whom had a lot to do with his character and musical training, and Ray Brown, his bassist and alter-ego in perhaps the finest trio(s) in jazz history.) And I learned that indeed Oscar Peterson is a person of intelligence, thoughtfulness, and dignity. I also learned much about his life, in a straightforward, easy-to-digest fashion, albeit without at times sufficient critical distance.

The book is written by Gene Lees, who is both a long-time fan and friend of Oscar Peterson (and, apparently, fellow Canadian) and a long-time jazz critic. To my mind, the best chapters of the book were two in which Lees-as-critic were more to the fore than Lees-as-fan: Chapter 18 deals with jazz criticism, the uneasy position of the piano within jazz, and Oscar Peterson as a piano virtuoso in the tradition of Chopin and Liszt; Chapter 21 contains a provocative discussion of the present problems with jazz and reasons for its decline in popularity. I can unreservedly recommend those two chapters to anyone interested in jazz or piano, but the rest of the book, I believe, would be appreciated primarily by those already taken with Oscar Peterson.

I can't resist ending with one quote from Oscar Peterson. As a youth in Montreal, he had received considerable teaching and training as a classical pianist. When asked late in life whether he would have continued in the classical tradition had it not been for the then almost insuperable barriers to entry to the concert stage for black musicians, Peterson said: "No. I'd still have taken the direction I did. Because of the creativity of jazz."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant read, August 27, 2007

By 

S J Buck (Kent, UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Oscar Peterson: The Will to Swing (Paperback)

If you listen to Oscar Peterson recordings and ever wonder just how and why he became so great this is he book to read. An accurate and facinating biography of Peterson from birth right up the year 2000 in this updated edition.

The book is full of little musical details that you won't know about. Stories about Oscar's influences, his musical competetiveness and his abhorence of racism. There is lot written on the mixed reaction to Oscars playing over the years. Nobody disputes he has (or had) technique of the highest standard, but some critised him for lacking originality and Miles Davis (in)famously once said "...he even had to learn how to play the blues". All this is discussed and more.

A great biography of a great artist.