MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS
From the period of November, 2001 right to the present time has been a very tedious and heartbreaking period for me. Over the past year Jazz has lost some very talented and wonderful performers, making this possibly the most difficult period of my life so far.
It seemed to commence with the passing of a dear friend and a great talent, John Lewis (leader of the Modern Jazz Quartet), and was carried on with Jazz losing such luminaries as Norman Granz, my dear friend and manager, Tommy Flanagan, Lou Levy, J. J. Johnson, Ray Brown and the most recent, to my knowledge, the very talented and wonderful Roy Kral of the duo "Jackie and Roy."
I have decided to dedicate October's Journal here on the web to one of my dearest friends and a most gifted bass icon, Ray Brown. Due to the fact that Ray's birthday falls on October 13, I thought it more appropriate to save October's Journal for a celebration of his life.
In July of this year the world sadly noted the passing of one of baseball's all-time greats, Ted Williams. I mention this because Ted had what seemed to be a profound love for Jazz and especially my Trio. He was a very quiet and unassuming fan of mine. I recall on numerous occasions when playing the then High Hat Club in Boston I would from time to time realize that he was in the club to hear us, only because, for whatever reasons, I had occasion to walk to the rear of the club, where I would find him standing quietly by the bar and listening intently. We became friends that saw each other only on these occasions, and it was with the utmost surprise that after having suffered my stroke in 1993, I received a telegram from him. It lit up my recovery a great deal, for he simply stated that he believed I would recover and return to Jazz. This served to emotionally bolster me to an untold degree, and helped in my determination to overcome the stroke and resume playing. I shall never forget him either.
This August so far has been a most eventful month for me. I received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Urban Music Association of Canada, along with an event that I never dreamed would ever happen.
In my fourth grade in public school I met and fell in love with our new teacher (Miss Perlson), my first childhood crush. I am certain that my feelings were shared by all the other male students in the class, as we gulped and remained wide-eyed at this beautiful lady who walked in and said, "Good morning. I am your teacher and my name is Miss Perlson." I have never recovered (along with the other guys in the class) from that moment. We all loved her and remained mesmerized by not only her beauty, but her wonderful carriage and caring. Believe it or not, I recently had the great privilege of reuniting with Miss Perlson, 91 years of age (and just as pretty), and now Mrs. Wright. We spent a most enjoyable afternoon together at my home, and I am looking forward to seeing her again in the near future.
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I would like to take this moment to thank all of my varied friends and fans that took the trouble to contact me on my birthday by word and floral gifts. Thank you one and all.
©2002 Oscar Peterson
It seemed to commence with the passing of a dear friend and a great talent, John Lewis (leader of the Modern Jazz Quartet), and was carried on with Jazz losing such luminaries as Norman Granz, my dear friend and manager, Tommy Flanagan, Lou Levy, J. J. Johnson, Ray Brown and the most recent, to my knowledge, the very talented and wonderful Roy Kral of the duo "Jackie and Roy."
I have decided to dedicate October's Journal here on the web to one of my dearest friends and a most gifted bass icon, Ray Brown. Due to the fact that Ray's birthday falls on October 13, I thought it more appropriate to save October's Journal for a celebration of his life.
In July of this year the world sadly noted the passing of one of baseball's all-time greats, Ted Williams. I mention this because Ted had what seemed to be a profound love for Jazz and especially my Trio. He was a very quiet and unassuming fan of mine. I recall on numerous occasions when playing the then High Hat Club in Boston I would from time to time realize that he was in the club to hear us, only because, for whatever reasons, I had occasion to walk to the rear of the club, where I would find him standing quietly by the bar and listening intently. We became friends that saw each other only on these occasions, and it was with the utmost surprise that after having suffered my stroke in 1993, I received a telegram from him. It lit up my recovery a great deal, for he simply stated that he believed I would recover and return to Jazz. This served to emotionally bolster me to an untold degree, and helped in my determination to overcome the stroke and resume playing. I shall never forget him either.
This August so far has been a most eventful month for me. I received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Urban Music Association of Canada, along with an event that I never dreamed would ever happen.
In my fourth grade in public school I met and fell in love with our new teacher (Miss Perlson), my first childhood crush. I am certain that my feelings were shared by all the other male students in the class, as we gulped and remained wide-eyed at this beautiful lady who walked in and said, "Good morning. I am your teacher and my name is Miss Perlson." I have never recovered (along with the other guys in the class) from that moment. We all loved her and remained mesmerized by not only her beauty, but her wonderful carriage and caring. Believe it or not, I recently had the great privilege of reuniting with Miss Perlson, 91 years of age (and just as pretty), and now Mrs. Wright. We spent a most enjoyable afternoon together at my home, and I am looking forward to seeing her again in the near future.************************
I would like to take this moment to thank all of my varied friends and fans that took the trouble to contact me on my birthday by word and floral gifts. Thank you one and all.
©2002 Oscar Peterson
posted by Webmaster at 8:41 PM
