A Quote by Count Basie

Oscar Peterson plays the best ivory box I've ever heard.

Count Basie

Quote Topics

Best Box Ever Heard Ivory Oscar Plays

Quote Author

Count Basie
American - Musician
August 21, 1904 - April 26, 1984

Oscar Peterson is my favorite all-around pianist. There are pianists I like because of one thing and pianists I like because of another. But overall, I like Oscar Peterson best.

Carmen McRae

You know, another jazz drummer, Ed Thigpen, who played with Oscar Peterson way back - it was the first time I ever heard rivets in a cymbal. And then I heard that Chico Hamilton had them too, and I went, 'Oh, that's it. I'm taking that for my sound.' And it worked well on 'Riders On The Storm,' so that's one thing.

John Densmore

I have believed for many years that Oscar Peterson is not only the greatest pianist in jazz today, but the greatest it has ever known.

Gene Lees

It has always been Oscar Peterson. He is my Rachmaninoff.

Shirley Horn

White boys always get the Oscar. It's a known fact. Did I ever get a nomination? No! You know why? Cause I hadn't played any of them slave roles, and get my ass whipped. That's how you get the nomination. A black dude who plays a slave that gets his ass whipped gets the nomination, a white guy who plays an idiot gets the Oscar. That's what I need, I need to play a retarded slave, then I'll get the Oscar.

Eddie Murphy

Patrick Peterson, obviously, is one of - it depends who you talk to - is the best, or one of the best, corners/return guys in the NFL. You just turn the film on and you're like, 'Wow, that guy plays corner? He looks like a linebacker and runs a 4.1' or whatever. He's a great player.

Derek Carr

Oscar Peterson is the greatest living influence on jazz pianists today.

Herbie Hancock

I never put myself in that box of you're an Oscar winner so you can only do this or that. That's one award, one night, and it does not define my career or it does not define me as an artist. I never wanted to get put in that Oscar box because that's a lonely place to be.

Halle Berry

As a kid, I used to go see all the jazz players, Oscar Peterson, Stan Kenton, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespe.

Jim Coleman

Jazz doesn't have much to do with how I write songs, but I am a big fan. My favorites are Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, and Mose Allison.

Timothy B. Schmit

You ever heard of a guy named Jeff Buckley? He's one of the best singers I've ever heard.

Sebastian Bach

When my friends were listening to hip-hop or R&B, I was in the crib listening to Billy Joel and Michael Bolton, Luther Vandross, and Oscar Peterson.

Robert Glasper

There are a lot of people that impacted me. I remember hearing Oscar Peterson live at the Blue Note, which was very expensive, but... $50 in the '80s... hard to come up with. But it was amazing.

Jon Gordon

When I joined the trio, it was as if I was capable of driving a sports car at 60, but Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson just kept pressing the pedal down, and I was trying to control the car at 80!