Canadian and U.S. jazz artists plan a tribute to legendary Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson during the International Association of Jazz Education conference next month in Toronto.

Peterson student and jazz composer Oliver Jones of Montreal will play Peterson's works with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra on Jan. 11 in tribute to the now-ailing Peterson.

Oscar Peterson at the microphone in November 2003. He has not appeared in public recently, citing ill health. Oscar Peterson at the microphone in November 2003. He has not appeared in public recently, citing ill health.
(Canadian Press)

Arts funding organizations from both sides of the border — The Canada Council for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts  — are backing the tribute to Peterson, a seven-time Grammy Award winner.

It is one of 100 headliner concerts to be held over four days in January when the IAJE, an international organization that promotes jazz education, attracts more than 7,000 people to Toronto.

Peterson, born and raised in Montreal, made his international debut at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1949.

He toured the world with his jazz trio in the 1950s and 1970s, wrote works such as the Canadiana Suite and A Royal Wedding Suite, and recorded prolifically.

Now 82 and living in Mississauga, Ont., Peterson had a stroke in 1993, but returned to performing, playing with one hand. He has turned down invitations over the past year, including a tribute to him at Carnegie Hall, because of ill health.

"Oscar Peterson is an outstanding musician who has made his mark on the world stage for nearly six decades," Canada Council chair Karen Kain said in a statement.

"We are delighted to partner with the National Endowment for the Arts to celebrate his life and his music, and to recognize the enormous contribution he has made to the arts in Canada and internationally."

Composer-performer Quincy Jones, shown in October 2007, has won a $25,000 US Jazz Master Fellowship.Composer-performer Quincy Jones, shown in October 2007, has won a $25,000 US Jazz Master Fellowship.
(Rene Macura/Associated Press)

The tribute will be part of an awards ceremony honouring the recipients of the 2008 NEA Jazz Master Fellowship, a $25,000 US fellowship that is one of the highest honours in jazz.

The winners are:

  • U.S. bandleader Quincy Jones, who has composed music for films such as The Color Purple and In Cold Blood.
  • Composer and arranger Tom McIntosh, whose influence can be heard in the music of Dizzy Gillespie and James Moody, and Hollywood movies such as Shaft.
  • Trumpeter Joe Wilder, who performed with ABC-TV, and is a popular soloist and sideman.
  • The late pianist Andrew Hill, who spent 40 years composing, performing, recording and mentoring young musicians.
  • Cuban percussionist Candido Camero, credited with being the first percussionist to bring conga drumming to jazz
  • Gunther Schuller, a composer and writer of both classical and jazz music.

The IAJE conference takes place in Toronto from Jan. 9-12.

Among the artists to perform are Paquito D'Rivera, Tierney Sutton, Courtney Pine, Nordic Connect, Lionel Loueke, Kenny Werner, Kurt Elling, New York Voices and Christian Scott.