A Letter from Oscar Peterson

The following letter was written to Lorne from Oscar Peterson on September 17, 1994

Dear Lorne,

This is a note that I intended to write much earlier upon our return from our last gig in Marciac. I hope that you and Marion enjoyed your vacation after the tour.

Since my return I have not only been thinking about our concerts together, but also thanks to the electronic medium, I have been able to relive those performances. I can’t help being overwhelmingly impressed not only by your talents, but also the efforts that you must have put in preceding the concerts in acquainting yourself with the various tunes and arrangements. This is the kind of musical dedication that I admire in a very few players, some of whom have preceded you in the group. As you surely must realize it takes much more than raw talent to turn out stellar performances, which I feel you did. I have always admired you as a player, but due to these engagements had a chance to get to know you on a daily basis and gained admiration for you as a person. I feel you have a tremendously long way to go in the Jazz field, considering your immeasurable musical talents, and can only hope that you will decide to take the full trip.

Should things work out for the both of us in the future, I certainly hope that we can work together on other performances. I know I certainly enjoyed the ones this past summer.

Please give all my best wishes to your lovely wife Marion, whom I feel I also got to know better. Incidentally, I have a copy of the Munich performance which I feel ranks very, very high and should you like a copy, I would be happy to strike one for you. Meanwhile, until the next time, congratulations and all of my sincere best wishes to you and Marion.