Bösendorfer Oscar Peterson Signature Edition piano

The Bösendorfer Oscar Peterson Signature Edition piano pays homage to the late jazz icon, who treasured his own handpicked Bösendorfer Imperial grand piano.

This piano faithfully recreates note-for-note performances that Mr. Peterson had personally recorded in the 1970s (on the Pianocorder, an advanced player piano from that era). These digital recordings, which accurately captured the key and pedal data, and the various nuances, as Mr. Peterson played, were meticulously converted to a modern-day format, which can now be enjoyed once again thanks to Disklavier technology built into the limited-edition instrument.

With just the touch of a button, you can witness its magic, as the instrument’s keys and pedals came alive, moving up and down to recreate Mr. Peterson’s original performances, just as he played them 40 years ago.

Included in this historical collection are: “Tenderly” (Walter Gross), “Take the A Train” and “Lush Life” (Billy Strayhorn), “Back Home Again in Indiana” (James F. Hanley), “Who Can I Turn To” (Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley), “Falling In Love with Love” (Richard Rodgers), “Body and Soul” (Johnny Green), “Blues of the Prairies” (Oscar Peterson), “Honeysuckle Rose” (Fats Waller), “Misty” (Erroll Garner), “A Time for Love” (Johnny Mandel), “Old Folks” (Willard Robison) and “Someone to Watch Over Me” (George Gershwin).

“Oscar’s relationship with Bösendorfer was dear to his heart, and he especially loved his own Bösendorfer Imperial piano,” said Kelly Peterson

The Oscar Peterson Signature Edition Piano is both a fully functional Disklavier and a true Bösendorfer. Its basically a Bösendorfer model 200 (approximately 6′ 7’” grand piano) that incorporates Yamaha Disklavier technology.

“In 2000, the Library and Archives of Canada wanted to do a big exhibit on Oscar,” says Mrs. Peterson, “and in addition to all the memorabilia and papers they collected, they thought it would be nice to have a Disklavier in the lobby playing songs Oscar had recorded. So he and Mike Voelkel [of Yamaha Canada] sat down and really listened to how the Disklavier played the old files, in order to tweak all the nuances and transitions perfectly and take advantage of the newer technology,” Oscar Peterson’s widow Kelly Peterson.

Although Oscar was quite impressed with the piano, he felt that the pianao didn’t quite capture his exact playing.

“I said we could edit the files but it would involve him sitting next to me at my computer and Disklavier piano. I was using a Windows PC running Cubase, MIDI’ed to the piano. The current Disklavier was the Mark III back then. Its precision was very good, which allowed us to preview changes as the edits were done. Then the Mark IV came out in 2004, and the current mechanism, called the E3, is what’s used in the new Bösendorfer,” Voelkel.

Once that was done, the final result was quite accurate to Peterson’s playing, including the feel and emotion, and his sense of interpretation.

Bösendorfer Oscar Peterson Signature Edition Piano @oscarpmusic #OscarWithLoveKoerner pic.twitter.com/yD57L4sGlC

— Steve B | YYZEvents (@YYZEvents) December 12, 2015

“It sounds hyperbolic, but I don’t know how else to put it: It’s as if he is there. Listening to this piano and watching the keys move can be difficult. It makes me miss him all over again,” said Kelly Peterson after witnessing the improved piano in action at NAMM.

Want to learn Oscar Peterson’s voicings and solos, you can slow down the tempo and even transpose any of the Disklavier song. The piano comes with several Peterson performances.

Thinking of connecting the piano to your computer? MIDI output is disabled on this piano to prevent them from being copied, so that’s not possible.

If you want to get these particular performances, than you have to buy a Oscar Peterson Signature Edition Piano.