9 iconic musicians and all members of the Order of Canada playing in a band augmented with fellow jazz artists spanning the country from Newfoundland to British Columbia who all got together for one night to perform Oscar Peterson’s epic ‘Canadiana Suite’. It was Oscar’s great friendship with the now 93 year-young Phil Nimmons that brought about this world premiere of the ‘Canadiana Suite’ in big band format. Orchestrated in 1974, it had never been recorded until now. Performed LIVE to a sold out audience at Toronto’s Koerner Hall, this concert was captured for posterity by 14-time Grammy award winning Canadian recording engineer Richard King.
“Oscar could really ‘swing’. Along with being an International Jazz Ambassador, he will always be a CANADIAN NATIONAL TREASURE”
Phil Nimmons, composer/arranger
“The inspiration for this concert recording is to celebrate these jazz greats who have literally shaped the foundation of the Canadian musical landscape and whose average age happens to be 78! ‘Canadiana Suite’ was written in 8 movements all representing a different region of the country from the Maritimes to the Pacific. When Phil Nimmons told me of this orchestration which had been sitting in his basement for well over 40 years, I knew it had to be the centerpiece of a concert recording which would honour the legacy of Oscar Peterson while also celebrating these Canadian jazz icons”
Jens Lindemann-Producer/Artistic Director
"Well, in terms of what he did, there was everybody else and then there was the inimitable Oscar. Because of his unique technical mastery - not just playing impossibly difficult lines, but in the way he played them!”
The Honourable Tommy Banks-Conductor/Piano