New Heritage Minute tells the story of Oscar Peterson

Historica Canada has put out a new Heritage Minute, telling the story of jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.

The new clip comes as part of its ongoing series that highlights influential figures from across the country.

The minute-long video chronicles the seven-time Grammy winner’s rise from a working-class Montreal family to becoming a world-renowned piano virtuoso.

Watch our NEW Heritage Minute on Oscar Peterson, one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time: pic.twitter.com/P6UyYXw8qE

— Historica Canada (@HistoricaCanada) February 17, 2021

It touches on his encounters with greatness, such as being dubbed “the man with four hands,” and acknowledges the racism he faced at jazz gigs in the 1940s.

Peterson died of kidney failure in 2007 at the age of 82.

The Oscar Peterson International Jazz Festival usually takes place in February in Niagara wine country. Because of COVID-19 a special broadcast will be taking place this year instead.