February 6, 2006
In fairness to Canadians...
My general policy is that when you bash a whole people, it is good to hold up a good counter-example (unless we are talking about England). So, while you are cooking up schemes to annex Canada to strip her of natural resources, take a listen to Oscar Peterson, probably the best pianist of any genre. I especially recommend Stan Getz and the Oscar Peterson Trio. Excellent record.
Oscar Peterson is to Canada as Lot is to Sodom.
At least he takes the edge off Margaret Atwood, the Canadian's Canadienne.
Posted by erik at February 6, 2006 10:04 AMPeterson is light years ahead of Shearing or Brubeck, technique-wise. I like Brubeck a lot, but Peterson is by far the better keyboardist. Shearing is not really my cup of tea, but I do respect his talent. As far as Glen Gould goes, he is a really interesting case. Great technique, but musically he was as eccentric as he was personally. I like him a lot, but, man, what a weirdo.
Posted by: Erik Keilholtz at February 6, 2006 2:02 PMLooks like I'll rile you on this one.
Oscar's great, but I wouldn't say he's better than Brubeck, Shearing or Glenn Gould. Then again, IIRC Gould's a Canuck.
Posted by: Gregg the obscure at February 6, 2006 10:44 AM