One of the most insane shreds of all time: 

Friendly competition was always good for music. It brought out the best in all who took music seriously.

Thanks for the nod to the documentary. I will watch it!

Had no idea Hulu had a doc on him - Ty!

So do what Art Tatum did to him

@@sacrilegiousboi978Except that he surpassed Art Tatum

"One of the most"

The more important question is: is this enjoyable?

@@matthiasreisinger5516 the answer is yes

Actuals insanity❤

@@matteojack_5950 not really. A but scruffy and just a hash up of tunes hardly real music like Liszt piano

Yes it was! And he still thought of Art Tatum as God. He didn't need to! :)

An this hands were big; that also probably helped!

I can play my radio and youtube video's!

@@AlbertoSegovia. Yeah, he had really big hands. I can reach an 11th. Oscar could reach a 12th. Fats Waller could reach a 13th. And George Shearing, the blind English jazz pianist said that shaking hands with Fats was like "grabbing a bunch of bananas, LOL! Man, crazy...

@@danwaldis4553 but Tatum was damn close.

Astute comment.

Obviously talking about jazz pianists not pianists in general

@@ciararespect4296 Both.

@@anonymusum from that comment I deduce you're not a prof pianist at all then and just masquerading as many do on yt He wasn't a good classical pianist at all. The techniques are completely different. You've honestly no idea. No doubt you'll reply but it won't be factual or honest No offense

@@ciararespect4296 I guess, you even don´t know classical pianists. Most of them admired Oscar or Art Tatum, Horowitz even invited him and asked him to improvise about *Tea for Two*. It´s not about the technique at all. It´s about the ability to improvise, to have the fantasy and inspiration to play freely over harmonies or themes. When my piano prof. in the conservatory found out that I sometimes played in jazz bands he asked me to show him some typical licks of mine and to harmonize some well known pieces with more jazzy chords. - I guess you have to learn quite a lot.

Time itself flexed for a second there. What a player.

@@user-vq1fh7nw9v non symmetry at its extreme, very bad technique.

@@eaea2332 You must be out of your mind?!

@@eaea2332 Woah, are you crazy!?

25 years on, still true

You should see Art Tatum ...

I literally thought it was him when I saw the thumbnail but quickly realized it wasn't@@iianneill6013

Try marc andre hamelin alkan etc

35 years in can play some of these licks but it still baffles the mind Oscar Peterson was the most. 🎹🔥

Oh my god I could shake teenage you wow what a fuckup

We've all got stories like that my man, don't sweat it. Mine include Getz, Miles, Ella and Cab.

I had a chance to see Joe Pass at a tiny little club on campus when I was in college and didn’t go. I was a foolish young man!

@@ckallaher Ouch, man! Yeah, they hurt...forever...!

My mum & dad seen him in concert.They probably had the same view.All the jazz greats came to europe in the 50's less prejudice.Denmark was a popular destination.I read miles davis's autobiography and when he was in Denmark a couple had brought their disabled child to see him,sat in the front row.He said I couldn't help but play my ass off that night.

My favorite guitarists even in metal have the same quality.

@@calebbean1384 like comparing a crayon drawing to Rembrandt

Yes. They all mean something. That's a deal maker for me when I listen to jazz.

Tell me ,what's the meaning of the 7th sixteenth in bar 77?

Kind of like Thelonious Monk in reverse.

Yes. I saw the trio (w. NHØP) in Pori Jazz in the eighties. Mind-blowing 90 minutes. Gotta admit though that a Zappa gig (Wackerman on drums) was even more insane.

There are no polyrhythms here.

@@0live0wire0 Maybe he just talks about Oscar Peterson in general, not just this video

@@imthezongz heavy. 🍉

@@0live0wire0 But it sounds complex, so it's obviously polyrhythms... and stuff. Duh

I agree. Oscar Peterson's chord structures mesmerize! Blues, jazz, gospel and R&B all grew out of the same cultural experience, so the chord sequences are often similar--capturing the same emotion, just at a different tempo. Of course, Mr. Peterson originated in Jamaica, but the experience mimicked the US.

@@emilerose1424 Not Jamaica. Born and raised in Canada. Peterson was born in Montreal, Quebec, to immigrants from the West Indies (Saint Kitts and Nevis and the British Virgin Islands);[7] His mother, Kathleen, was a domestic worker; his father, Daniel, worked as a porter for Canadian Pacific Railway and was an amateur musician who taught himself to play the organ, trumpet and piano. Peterson grew up in the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy in Montreal. It was in this predominantly black neighbourhood that he encountered the jazz culture. At the age of five, Peterson began honing his skills on trumpet and piano, but a bout of tuberculosis when he was seven prevented him from playing the trumpet again, so he directed all his attention to the piano. His father was one of his first music teachers, and his sister Daisy taught him classical piano. Peterson was persistent at practising scales and classical études. As a child, Peterson studied with Hungarian-born pianist Paul de Marky, a student of István Thomán, who was himself a pupil of Franz Liszt, so his early training was predominantly based on classical piano. But he was captivated by traditional jazz and boogie-woogie and learned several ragtime pieces. He was called "the Brown Bomber of the Boogie-Woogie". (Wikipedia)

@@JB--- You're right. I heard Oscar Peterson in an interview talk about the West Indies and I associated that with Jamaica, but he was talking about his parents being from the West Indies. Thanks for the correction.

@@emilerose1424 no problem. Yes, they are close to Jamaica. I just found it interesting and thought I'd share. Good video, huh? :D

@@JB--- thats what im talkin about J B . . East coast Canada .

That's why Oscar Peterson loved playing the Bosendorfer Imperial 290 - it has 4 extra keys on the bass ends, so there are 92, not 88 keys. (They even make a 97 key piano)

Bonkers, bro. Tenths for days.

Good thing his fingers were not too big if you look the size of his hands Perfect hands for a MASTER pianist.

He had a 13 note reach with his left hand

That’s how most of the better pop and jazz pianists of the 1920s (well, those with larger hands) were able to play. This style of bass movement fell out of fashion after 1945, but some pianists continued to play it of course.

Mind-boggling. Peterson was likely one of the best in human history.

​@@prometheusrex1👍!

I second to that.

You're welcome

What is stretching a tenth?

@@dspsblyuth it means reaching two notes that are 16 semitones apart (the 10th interval) at the same time, with one hand. Most pianists struggle with this, it’s a very difficult interval to hit because most people’s hands simply aren’t big enough😅 and this guy is playing them like it’s nothing.

@@mr.s6661 he stretched 16 keys with one hand?

@@dspsblyuth well yes, sixteeen white and black keys combined. In reality it’s like stretching across 9 white keys in total, which is still insane😄

@@mr.s6661 It should be pointed out that not all tenths are created equal. Minor tenths are of course much easier to reach than major tenths. You can go off the edge for white-to-white majors (whether or not you consider that cheating). Black-to-black major (there’s only one) is much easier than white-to-blacks, and black-to-white majors are most difficult of all. (Theoretically there are augmented tenths as well, but let’s not go into that.)

The transcription is superlative! Not good or great. Superlative, It's not just the notes. It's dynamics and rhythms too.

He's doing the lord's work. Can't even comprehend the level of patience and dedication it required

Thank you. Shame the uploader didn't credit.

​@@arybovic Are you the one with the golden ears who transcribed this?

Exactly. Not enough credit given for this insane transcription!!!

not to step on the toes of the king , but that young Diana Krall did a damn cool version of NightTrain there round 10 years ago . chec it .

Me too.

how old are you?

@@ha-u-rupaiaymbon5824 Oscar Peterson and Milt Jackson played a lot of small venues in the 80s.

@@timtatum1 damn really? I couldn't tell

Nice! Probably his best era

I agree. Speed is one thing. Musicality was enhanced by the speed.

Yes probably lots of musicians today have the technical ability. But what makes it special is his enthusiasm which boils out of his music, which is matchless.

@@HansBaier ABSOLUTELY! Glad you enjoyed it.

@@HansBaier Oscar once said there were many pianists who could play faster than he could. But they couldn't play that fast _and swing._

It’s not just his skill but man oh man can he play it pretty too! For the other readers out there check out his tune “You Look Good To Me” as one of the many examples of such.

Oscar once famously said that the only piano player that scared him was Art Tatum.

@@scottholloway6873 I can understand that. Those two were in a class by themselves.

No

sadly lacking in jazz these days.

this used to be our norm ,our entertainment , our music every sunday nite on ed sullivan or through out the week on CBC . louie Armstrong .buddy rich , gene cruppa , herb albert . willie dixon , count basie ,artie shaw , etta james ,ella fitzgerald , Frank n Dean . wes montgomery , chuc berry , coleman hawkins , john coltrane , myles 50 s stuff , im missing more than im mentioning , but this was our standard .what we had as Music compare that to whats on the radio today , not much wonder things have gone down the slippery slope . so when yur talkin to an old fart .this is where his perspective is comin from . go home n practice .

Art. Tatum. !!!

@@skierpage Without Art Tatum, there would be no Oscar Peterson...& I know the story about how a young Oscar ran crying to his room to cry after his dad played him an Art Tatum recording, Oscar initially thinking it was two pianists rather than one...I see it as Oscar standing on the shoulders of giants such as Tatum.

@@zivkovicable Hah. Your comment reminds me of when I played some Cecil Taylor for my Dad - he also was sure it was two pianists.

LOL 😁😁😁😁😁🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 No doubt Oscar would like your comment!

More like knowing how to play any instrument gives you some insight on how sky high this is.

As a pianist, I can assure you that nothing except for the most challenging concert etudes in the classical piano repertoire even come close to this level of playing - when you factor in that this is all improvised it’s even crazier

I did play piano for around 15 years, played like a cross between Duke Ellington and Keith Green. And my jaw is on the floor and I'm panting hard after hearing this. What Oscar did is truly insanely good.

And their daddy is Art Tatum

@@AlbieLudiScoffi Rach AND Volodya loved Art Tatum! 🎼🎶🎹🔥😎👍👏💝

Rachman wasn' t he Jerry LEE Lewis' s step brother .

He had the hands, so freaking what.

@@NeverTalkToCops1 many pianists can't reach that.

All the old school stride players, James P Johnson, Willie the lion Smith, Luckey Roberts, Fats Waller, Art Tatum, had huge hands and could play tenths with ease.

Glen Gould would do this all the time.

​@@OneWayToPeaceOrthodoxyI was getting ready to say the same thing!

You aware of young improv keyboardists like Jacob Collier, Cory Henry, Hiromi Uehara?

If you haven't already seen it already, Lionel Yu has a great video called "Piano's Darkest Secret" which discusses how the standard key width came to be and how it negatively affects the vast majority of pianists.

@@inigo4937 thanks for the suggestion. Will look it up.

There is a 7/8ths size piano out there. As a piano teacher I really wish it was more common, because the repertoire in classical and jazz is so prohibitive to many

Why doesn't somebody invent the 20 yard long hundred yard race track and give me a chance?

@@johnbishop5316 Because racing is a competition and playing the piano is not.

Exactly

Absolutely not! He is a stupid show-off with NO STYLE!

Bud Powell

Lennie Tristano!!!

Tatum?

Bill Evans

Would have been easier to transcribe if the video was recording from a "bird's eye view" of the keyboard, but even just seeing the performance from the side (as in this video) maybe helped a little, compared to transcribing from the audio alone with no video at all to help.

@@gregcarter8656 So you're saying that because of the fact that it was not audio alone, we all could have transcribed it ?

@@Martin_Whiteside No. That's not what I wrote. Read my comment again. Carefully. Pay attention to the words "maybe helped a little". I learned how to play the head of Donna Lee on the guitar by watching Joe Pass play it (in person). Merely hearing it, without seeing it, would not have helped me.

I’m sure Art Tatum is one of the great piano players of all time. In part because Oscar Peterson thought so. But for my money, Oscar Peterson is better, because he plays with all of the precision and speed, but about 10 times the soul. all I get from Tatum is speed. I don’t know if anybody ever danced to an Art Tatum tune.

@@johnsrabelisten to Battery bounce

And you are a master of understatement.

@@thedolphin5428 Yeah, he even understated Oscar’s last name.

Ya think?

it's amazing isn't it?

Age if you want is only a number Or not...if you want

What age does one have to be to be "old" to you?

He was certainly not an “old man” then.

Phineas Newborn

"Shred" , was a term that came out of the 80's , to describe guitar soloing.

@@Bobby007D Cool, got it.

2set fans everywhere lol

he's not proud because he play too slow

@@achinpajou dude how about you try to improvise on stage faster than this

That's fairly normal over black notes, particularly (and also over legato runs) - lose minimal spread at full extension between the fourth and fifth fingers except that fourth fingers have the added benefit of naturally being further up in the keys. Definitely recommend trying 8th+ runs where you swap to fourth on black notes and you'll see how much easier it is without really sacrificing hand span.

He and Powell are the onliest to ever dare match A T.

@@diegorosso9401 count Basie ?

@@peterbetts858 Great player, but didn't have the chops of Peterson or Tatum.

Yeppers. And to think that all of his ability and downright genius was at one time, contained in something smaller than a grain of sand.

@@violinhunter2 No, just absolutely NO. The ability and downright genius evolved out of many years of endless practice and studying. Work ethic is not genetic, it is learned.

@@violinhunter2 the more you write, the dumber it gets. Just stop.

@@mikemartin5749 I have a mental deficiency - my IQ is around 87. You are just ... I don't know. I just don't know.

@@violinhunter2 based on your vocabulary and historical knowledge, I'd guess your IQ is very high. Book smarts. What you are severely lacking is common sense. If you truly believe in god, you are nowhere close to being as smart as you think you are. When you wrote "I don't know, I just don't know", that was by far the most accurate thing you have posted here. None of us know. Some of us have the courage to acknowledge and admit it.