The Canadian National Newspaper: Peterson Pays for Living in Toronto

Reflections of Canada in the early 1960's:

The Telegram, Toronto Thursday, February 22, 1962

Do Canadians really appreciate homegrown artists, and more especially those who don't move away? Let's look at the case of Oscar Peterson.

Beyond any doubt, Peterson is one of the top jazz attractions in the world. He is in demand in Europe and tours there annually; he has played in Japan and Australia; the best jazz spots in the United States bid for his services; he has won something like a dozen top jazz awards in the past decade; his records always sell well.

Peterson in the world of jazz stands at, or very near, the top. Not many Canadians who toil in other art vineyards have achieved a comparable pre-eminence in their particular spheres of creative activity.

But Peterson lives in Toronto and pays the price. Whether he's prepared to continue doing so indefinitely is a question to ponder.

When Oscar and Phil Nimmons decided to establish their Advanced School of Contemporary Music, there can be no question that they could have done so in any major city on this continent. Even if Nimmons is relatively unknown outside Canada. the Peterson name alone would have been enough to insure success.

But Oscar wanted to live in Canada, his home. He wanted, moreover, to set up this school here because it was a matter of some national pride to him that such a school, one of the very few where jazz is dealt with seriously, should exist in Canada.

It was his hope that as the school grew, he could spend more and more time at home and less and less on the road. It was he who urged his two sidemen, Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen, to do likewise. They also live here now, when the trio isn't traveling, and also teach at the school.

Now, let's see how this has affected Peterson. We've had other entertainers or artists who have left here for the States: Gisele Mackenzie, Bob Goulet, Lorne Greene, and so on. Whenever they have come back here for a TV show or some other appearance, they have been able to demand - and get - fees far higher than they made previously. That's only natural, and more power to them.

But Peterson lives here, he is "available." He is one of the few internationally known "names" we have living in Toronto. (Wayne and Shuster come to mind, of course, but they managed to get a long-term CBC contract. Soon after, they "made it" on the Sullivan show). Does Peterson get much TV work, and is he well paid for it?

In the 1961-62 season, the CBC has used him exactly twice. And each time, the money he received was well below the money paid to "imported" stars. His most recent appearance was on Parade. He got substantially less money than Brenda Lee, who was brought in from New York the following week.

The airplane fare between here and New York is about $50. The difference between what Peterson got and what Miss Lee got was more like $500 or $1,000. And this doesn't even take into account the fact that Peterson's aides - Brown and Thigpen - are themselves of a high enough calibre that he must, in all conscience, pay them better than I imagine Miss Lee has to pay the dreary noisemakers she brought along.

If I seem to be picking on the CBC, it's only because this sort of thing happens only on the CBC - after all, CTV hasn't yet reached the stage where it uses any high-priced talent, local or imported.

So, here is Peterson, one of the greatest musicians Canada has produced, living within easy reach of the hub of entertainment activity in this country, yet taken so much for granted that he is seen only twice in a full season of TV -- and then at fees that are reduced because he lives here.

So much for the TV end of it. Tomorrow, we'll go on with other aspects of this examination of the case of Oscar Peterson.