Oscar Peterson Rose

Rosa Oscar Peterson, with petals the colour of piano ivory, and stamens the colour of candlelight, is the 2016 rose in the Canadian Artists Series.  Named in honour of Canadian jazz legend, and eight time Grammy Award winner, Oscar Peterson, the hardy, continually performing rose is bred for Canadian Winters.

Born August 15, 1925 in Montreal's St. Henri (Little Burgundy) neighbourhood, to parents from St. Kitts and British Virgin Islands, Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, was the fourth of five children. He played the trumpet, until tuberculosis forced him to take up piano at the age of seven.  His eldest brother, sixteen year old Fred, did not survive the disease.

Oscar's father, a porter with Canadian Pacific Railway, was his first music teacher.  Later, Oscar's sister, Daisy - a Montreal piano teacher - provided classical music training.  In 1940, he won a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation national music competition, and at the age of 14, dropped out of school to become a professional pianist, with a weekly radio show, and bookings in hotels and concert halls.

In his more than sixty-five years of performing, Oscar Peterson was, and is considered to be one of the greatest jazz pianists.  Louis Armstrong called him, "the man with four hands", and Duke Ellington called him, "Maharaja of the keyboard".  He released over 200 recordings, my personal favourite being his signature, Night Train.  Another Canadian, jazz pianist Diana Krall heard her destiny, listening to that recording.

The Oscar Peterson rose begins as a creamy apricot bud, tipped in deep coral pink.  It unfurls into a brilliant white, pink edged, semi-double flower, with a golden yellow centre, and glossy leaves.  The flowers are great performers.  They bloom from late Spring to late Autumn, without a "take five".

All of the roses in the Canadian Artists Series are bred for our bitterly cold Canadian Winters.  The Oscar Peterson is hardy in zone three, surviving temperatures as low as -35C (-31F).  It is described as being exceptionally disease resistant.  The plant itself has a strong root system, and grows upright, spreading slightly.  The flowers bloom in sprays, or clusters, much like an entourage or large family.

Oscar Peterson married four times, and had seven children.  The last decades of his life were spent in Toronto, where he taught piano, founded the Advanced School of Contemporary Music, mentored the York University jazz programme, and was Chancellor of York University for many years.

Peterson was also a gifted composer, writing for the piano, trio, quartet and big band.  Canadiana Suite, and Hymn to Freedom, inspired by the US civil rights movement, are his best-known compositions.  

He continued touring until 1993, when a stroke paralyzed him on his left side.  It is a testament to his strength and spirit, that two years later, he returned to public performances and recording studios.  It's said that he played better with one strong hand, than most played with two.  He performed right up until 2007.

In 1997, he received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement, and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award.  Other awards included, the first Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award from Black Theatre Workshop (1986), The Governor General"s Performing Arts Award (1992), and the UNESCO Music Prize (2000).

Peterson's accolades went beyond music.  Peterson was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (1972), and twelve years later, given the Companion of the Order of Canada, our country's highest award for merit and humanity.  He received the Order of Ontario, the Chevalier of the National Order of Quebec, and was made an officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.  He also received sixteen honorary degrees from fourteen universities in Canada and the USA.

Oscar Peterson died in Mississauga, Ontario just two days before Christmas, 2007.  He was 82.

The Oscar Peterson Rose bodycon dress is now available in my on-line shop:  http://bit.do/bodycon
Go to the shop, click on the dress, and give it a twirl in 3-D.

Photographs of roses copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Inc.

Photographs of Oscar Peterson:  Peterson with piano in background, photographer Patti Gower, The Toronto Star;  black and white image, photographer unknown;  Peterson leaning on the piano, photographer Al Gilbert.