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Oscar Peterson

From a family of West Indian immigrants, Oscar Peterson was the son of an amateur trumpeter and pianist, and grew up in a black neighbourhood in Montreal, Canada where he absorbed the vibrant jazz culture of the area and took up the trumpet. When a childhood bout of tuberculosis stopped him playing trumpet, Peterson studied classical piano, but also became adept at playing ragtime and boogie woogie. At 14 he won a national music competition run by the Canadian Broadcasting Company and subsequently dropped out of school to become a professional pianist, getting regular work on rad...