Oscar Peterson: Life of a Legend
NEA Jazz Masters
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1h 33m
OSCAR PETERSON: THE LIFE OF A LEGEND tells the life story of one of jazz's all-time great pianists, a technical virtuoso and master of swing whose life has been shaped by his extraordinary talent and driving ambition.
We witness the triumphant musical renaissance of the Oscar Peterson Trio: Oscar Peterson, bassist Ray Brown, and guitarist Herb Ellis, together again after two decades. We also hear firsthand accounts of Oscar's clashes with racism, further complicated by prejudices confronting his racially mixed trio.
Maintaining Olympian musical standards while facing life on the road left Peterson torn between his commitments to his family and his art. One focus of this revealing documentary is the Peterson family reunion: a child of four meets his 67-year-old grandfather for the first time, and Oscar's grown children begin to express their feelings for their proud and articulate dad.
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