Newer PostOlder PostF R I D AY, A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 6Oscar Peterson -- Just Under The WireI saw Oscar Peterson at Birdland last night and I was worried hewouldn't even be able to make it to his piano.</p><p> He stepped so gingerlyand carefully towards the stage, Oscar got one of the longest standingovations in memory: no one wanted to sit down before he did.</p><p> The firstsong had me worried: Peterson was tentative and almost confused inhis faint playing.</p><p> But he picked up steam as the show went on, eventhough he was too tired to bring on the girl singer scheduled to warblea few numbers.</p><p> Peterson is clearly at the point in his life when he islooking back more than he's looking ahead.</p><p> In a soft voice, hementioned several times how we had lost so many wonderful jazzartists in the last few years, mentioning his long-time musical partnerRon Brown and Duke Ellington.</p><p> Duke Ellington? He died THIRTYyears ago! At least Peterson ended with the sad news that MaynardFerguson (of "Rocky" fame) had died the day before, before launchinginto "Requiem." Happily, the old lion had some fire left in him,especially on Ellington's "Satin Doll." "Can you mention his namewithout playing this song?" asked Peterson playfully.</p><p> I'm glad I sawhim and that it wasn't merely a case of applauding the past instead ofthe present.</p><p> But the past definitely dominated.POSTED BY MICHAEL IN NEW YORK AT 7:40 PM 0 C O M M E N T S :Post a CommentL I N K S T O T H I S P O S TCreate a LinkHomeSubscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)Next Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: Oscar Peterson -- Just Under The Wirehttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/08/oscar-peterson-just-und... 1 of 37/28/09 8:16 PMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SBiboyAaronMichael in New York POPSURFING.COM: Oscar Peterson -- Just Under The Wirehttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/08/oscar-peterson-just-und... 2 of 37/28/09 8:16 PMPOPSURFING.COM: Oscar Peterson -- Just Under The Wirehttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/08/oscar-peterson-just-und... 3 of 37/28/09 8:16 PM
