Jazz piano luminary JOHN SHERWOOD‘s incomparable piano skills have earned him the respect of his public and his peers as one of the top jazz pianists in Canada today. He performed with vibesmaster Peter Appleyard for years, and has also been featured live or on recordings with Moe Koffman, Guido Basso, Rob McConnell, Ed Bickert, Jake Hanna, Kenny Wheeler, Butch Miles, and countless other international stars, past and present.
The ‘bible’ of the international music scene, “DownBeat Magazine” wrote “Sherwood is firmly of the Oscar Peterson school”, an apt tribute to the talent of the prodigious pianist, who was influenced by Peterson’s genius from earliest childhood. Today John Sherwood has his own profoundly lyrical, boundlessly swinging, brilliantly executed sound, but Oscar Peterson’s lifelong impact is unmistakable.
By the time Sherwood reached high school he was studying at an A.R.C.T. (Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto) level. His father, accepting John’s fading interest in classical music, presented him with the challenge of playing jazz on the piano bringing home albums by Tete Montoliu and Clare Fischer, but it was his older brother who gave him the first Oscar Peterson recording in 1978, which would mark a whole new obsession for the music.
“I’ve merely scratched the surface on a few areas of Peterson’s work, but those areas dominate my way of thinking about the piano. Always. Even when I’m not playing in that style. The classical background is essential in developing touch, tone and technique. In jazz, it’s the rhythm. Once you have that rhythmic concept, the rest falls into place.”
Tonight’s performance by the all-star JOHN SHERWOOD TRIO also features jazz masters STEVE WALLACE (bass) and TERRY CLARKE (drums), entertaining in the up-close-and-personal intimacy of the Home Smith Bar.