Another jazz great dies

I'm a little sad today because another jazz great has died and I did not have the privilege of seeing him perform. He was an amazing pianists that had a style that was unmistakable when you heard it. Rest in peace.

Here's the report from the Canadian Press:

Oscar Peterson, who once said playing piano gave him 'extreme joy,' dead at 82

TORONTO - Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, whose flying fingers mesmerized audiences around the world - from dance halls in 1940s Montreal to the lights of Carnegie Hall and beyond - has died at age 82.

He played alongside the giants of jazz: Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Roy Eldridge, Nat King Cole, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, who once called Peterson the "Maharajah of the keyboard."

"Until the end, Oscar Peterson could tour the world and fill concert halls everywhere," said Andre Menard, artistic director and co-founder of the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

"This is something that never diminished. His drawing power, his mystique as a musician, was so big that he remained at the top of his game until the end ... Oscar Peterson has been the musician every musician in the world can look up to and aspire to."

Word of Peterson's death at his home in Mississauga, Ont., set off a torrent of international tributes, including a statement from French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who said "one of the bright lights of jazz has gone out."

"He was a regular on the French stage, where the public adored his luminous style," Sarkozy added. "It is a great loss for us."