Oscar Above

An homage to Oscar Peterson, one of my true musical idols. My proverbial ‘desert island’ jazz album would have to be Oscar’s ‘Night Train’.

This was painted soon after hearing the announcement of his passing in December 2007.

I was fortunate enough to meet Oscar several times, including a personal tutorial session I gave him on electronic synthesizer. Years later, I gifted him with one of my paintings, ‘The Tipping Point’.

This is the only keyboard I’ve painted representing a Boesendorfer Imperial keyboard which has 97 keys (8 full octaves). This model was the one favored by Oscar, who physical power and musical intelligence made him one of a handful of pianists who could actually take full advantage of the expanded tonality that eight octaves provides.

acrylic on canvas 18 x 36