Watch: Oscar Peterson: Black + White 2020 123movies, Full Movie Online – A celebration of the life and work of legendary Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson..
Plot: Dives into Peterson’s life as jazz royalty with a focus on the racism he was forced to endure throughout his career and his commitment to mentoring younger players.
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7.2/10 Votes: 129 | |
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63/100 | MetaCritic | |
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Oscar Peterson: Simply the Best
I’m neither young nor a jazz pianist, but this morning I made my way through a few of Oscar Peterson’s songs he wrote for students called Exercises for the Young Jazz Pianist. Now that I think about it, I’m almost embarrassed to say I’m a pianist, but I love to play and his exercises have shaped not only what and how I play, but how I think about music and its infinite possibilities.I dream that they’ll invent a machine that would allow me to play piano like Oscar played it, even for just a few minutes. What must that be like? I’m not even talented enough to imagine that. Oscar says in this that when his dad had him listen to Art Tatum for the first time he asked, “Who are those two guys playing piano?” When his pop told him it was only one guy…and that he was blind, the distraught young Oscar stopped playing for two months. I know the felling, like every time I watch Oscar play it maked me want to throw my piano out my fourth floor window.
Disappointing documentary about one of jazz’s all time greats
As “Oscar Peterson: Black + White” (2021 release from Canada; 81 min.) opens, a group of musicians is gathering to pay tribute to Oscar Peterson by performing some of his songs. We then go back in time to “Montreal 1925”, and we get a quick overview of Oscar’s upbringing and his father’s outsized influence on that. At this point we are less than 10 min into the documentary.Couple of comments: this is the latest from Canadian producer-director Barry Avrich (“Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story”). Here Avrich assesses the legacy of Oscar Peterson, one of jazz’s all time greats and truly a Canadian treasure. If rating this was about Oscar Peterson himself, my rating would be a 9 or 10 for sure. But what about the documentary itself? Alas, I cannot be nearly as enthusiastic as I am about the jazz legend. While obviously well intended, the documentary never finds its groove, and certainly never sheds any new light on the jazz legend. On top of that, it feels like the documentary is struggling to come up with enough material, even at a running time of just 1 hr and 20 min. I have no idea what the “White + Black” of the movie title refers to. Yes, the footage of the tribute band for some reason switches back and forth from color to B&W, but I can’t come up with any reason why. And yes, some (older) of the archive footage is in B&W, while other (more recent) clips are in color. Per the usual, there are plenty of talking heads providing their perspective on (universal acclaim of) Oscar Peterson, including Billy Joel, Herbie Hancock, the New York Times jazz critic, and many others. Bottom line: I can’t help but feel disappointed with this documentary. Given his immense stature in the history of jazz, Oscar Peterson surely deserves better that his.
“Oscar Peterson: Black & White” premiered at last Fall’s Toronto International Film Festival, and it started streaming on Hulu just this past weekend, where I caught it. If you are a fan of Oscar Peterson, or simply are interested in a the history of jazz, I’d suggest you approach this with limited expectations. Og course don’t take my word for it, so check it out and draw your own conclusion.
Original Language en
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Status Released
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Genre Documentary
Director Barry Avrich
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Actors Jon Batiste, Daniel Clarke Bouchard, Measha Brueggergosman
Country Canada
Awards 4 wins & 4 nominations
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