Peterson was hugely influenced by Art Tatum, who had a prodigious technique and complete mastery of the keyboard. It is said that after Peterson’s father played a Tatum recording for him, Peterson was so overawed by Tatum’s breakneck tempos that he didn’t touch the piano for a month. Another anecdote is that Peterson was playing at a night club but froze when he was told that Tatum had dropped in. Peterson played with many jazz maestros and made excellent recordings. I particularly enjoy his trio recordings with Ray Brown on bass and Herb Ellis on guitar. I was fortunate to hear him live at a concert in 2002 in Toronto. On account of his previous stroke, he shuffled to the piano. But once he was at the keyboard he gave a tremendous performance and ended the concert playing Sweet Georgia Brown, my perennial favourite, at a blistering tempo. Peterson has left us. Herbie Hancock has rightly said “no one will ever be able to take his place”.