Where Oscar’s jazz odyssey began

Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson's death just before Christmas has brought tributes from across the world - but none more personal than from those who grew up with him in Montreal before the war. Peterson was encouraged by his father Daniel, a porter for the Canadian Pacific Railway and a self-taught pianist, to play classical piano from the age of six. One day he played his son a record by the jazz virtuoso Art Tatum - and Oscar was hooked.

A classmate from Peterson's high school in west Montreal remembers him as a young teenager being half-asleep during classical music lessons, not because he was bored, but because he'd been out jamming in the city's jazz clubs the night before.

One morning, the classical music teacher, spotting Oscar yawning, decided to make an example of him. The teacher asked - a shade sarcastically - if Oscar might like to play something for the class. Oscar shuffled over to the piano - he was big for his size even as a young teen - sat down at the piano and was utterly still for a moment. He then played an exquisite Moonlight Sonata and returned to his seat. The teacher, suitably humbled, said thank you, and the lesson resumed.