Art Tatum

Arthur Tatum Jr.
Art Tatum
Born	October 13, 1909 Toledo, Ohio
Died	November 5, 1956
Occupation	Jazz pianist

Arthur Tatum Jr. (October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist.

He was known for his virtuosic playing and creative improvisation. Tatum was widely recognized among his colleagues as the most gifted jazz pianist alive. To many, he was one of the greatest pianists of any musical genre, and arguably one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. Critic Scott Yanow declares that "Tatum's recordings still have the ability to scare modern pianists."[1]

Biography

Tatum was born in Toledo, Ohio. From birth he suffered from cataracts which left him blind in one eye, and with only very limited vision in the other. He played piano from his youth, and played professionally in Ohio and especially the Cleveland area before moving to New York City in 1932.

Tatum drew inspiration from his contemporaries James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, and had a great influence on later jazz pianists, such as Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, and Oscar Peterson.

Unusually for a jazz musician, Tatum rarely abandoned the original melodic lines of the songs he played, preferring instead to feature innovative reharmonization (changing the chord progressions supporting the melodies). He also had a penchant for filling spaces within melodies with trademark runs and embellishments, which some critics considered gratuitous and "unjazzlike," while his fans regarded the pyrotechnics as exciting and vital to his music. Tatum also displayed harmonic ideas that were well ahead of their time in the 1930's and would be emulated by Bebop era musicians ten to twenty years later.

Tatum tended to record unaccompanied, partly because relatively few musicians could keep up with his lightning-fast tempos and advanced harmonic vocabulary. He formed a trio during the early 1940's with bassist Slam Stewart and guitarist Tiny Grimes. They recorded a number of 78 rpm discs during the short period they were together. To hear these recordings today is to marvel at the structure and interplay which are unequalled to this day.

Tatum's solo piano recordings are his greatest legacy. His repertoire was drawn mainly from the American standards songbook. Tatum used his effortless technical brilliance, prodigious memory, groundbreaking harmonic concepts and overall musical genius to create a library of piano masterpieces.

Tatum's contemporaries recognized his prowess. When Tatum walked into a club where Fats Waller was playing, Waller stepped away from the piano bench to make way for Tatum, announcing, "I only play the piano, but tonight God is in the house". In addition, Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, after hearing Tatum play, claimed he was the greatest piano player in any style. And legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker (who helped develop bebop) was highly influenced by Tatum. When newly arrived in New York, Parker briefly worked as a dishwasher in a Manhattan restaurant where Tatum happened to be performing, and often listened to the legendary pianist.

Tatum recorded commercially from 1932 until near his death, though the predominately solo nature of his skills meant that recording opportunities were somewhat intermittent. Tatum recorded for Decca (1934-41), Capitol (1949, 1952) and for the labels associated with Norman Granz (1953-56). For Granz, he recorded an extended series of solo albums and group recordings with, among others, Ben Webster, Buddy DeFranco, Benny Carter and Lionel Hampton.

Although Tatum refrained from classifying himself as a classical pianist, he adapted several classical works into new arrangements that showcased his own musical style.

Only a small amount of film showing Art Tatum playing exists today as the vast majority has been lost (several minutes of professionally shot archival footage can, for example, be found in the video documentary Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues). Tatum appeared on Steve Allen's Tonight Show in the early 1950's, and on other television shows from this era. Unfortunately, all of the kinescopes of the Allen shows, which were stored in a warehouse along with other now defunct shows, were thrown into a local rubbish dump to make room for new studios. However, the soundtracks were recorded off-air by Tatum enthusiasts at the time, and many are included in Storyville Records extensive series of rare Tatum recordings.

Art Tatum died in Los Angeles, California from the complications of uraemia (as a result of kidney failure), having indulged in excessive beer drinking since his teenage years. He is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

A few years ago, an MIT student invented a term that's now in common usage in the field of computational musicology: The Tatum. It means "the smallest perceptual time unit in music."

Biographies

• James Lester (1994) Too Marvelous for Words: The Life and Genius of Art Tatum, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-509640-1

Discography/Recordings

• Complete Capitol Recordins, Blue Note, 1997

• Memories Of You (3 CD Set) Black Lion, 1997

• On The Sunny Side Topaz Jazz, 1997

• Vol. 16-Masterpieces, Jazz Archives Masterpieces, 1996

• 20th Century Piano Genius (20th Century/Verve, 1996

• Standard Sessions (2 CD Set), Music & Arts, 1996 & 2002/Storyville 1999

• Body & Soul,Jazz Hour (Netherlands), 1996

• Solos (1937) and Classic Piano,Forlane, 1996

• 1932-44 (3 CD Box Set), Jazz Chronological Classics, 1995

• The Rococo Piano of Art Tatum Pearl Flapper, 1995

• I Know That You Know, Jazz Club Records, 1995

• Piano Solo Private Sessions October 1952, New York, Musidisc (France), 1995

• The Art of Tatum, ASV Living Era, 1995

• Trio Days, Le Jazz, 1995

• 1933-44, Best of Jazz (France), 1995

• 1940-44, Jazz Chronological Classics, 1995

• Fine Art & Dandy, Drive Archive, 1994

• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 2, Pablo, 1994

• Marvelous Art, Star Line Records, 1994

• House Party, Star Line Records, 1994

• Masters of Jazz, Vol. 8, Storyville (Denmark), 1994

• California Melodies, Memphis Archives, 1994

• 1934-40, Jazz Chronological Classics, 1994

• I Got Rhythm: Art Tatum, Vol. 3 (1935-44), Decca Records, 1993

• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 5, Pablo, 1993

• The Best of Art Tatum, Pablo, 1992

• Standards, Black Lion, 1992

• The V-Discs, Black Lion, 1992

• Vol. 1-Solo Masterpieces, Pablo, 1992

• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 3 , Pablo, 1992

• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 4, Pablo, 1992

• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 5, Pablo, 1992

• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 6, Pablo, 1992

• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 7, Pablo, 1992

• The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 8, Pablo, 1992

• Classic Early Solos (1934-37), Decca Records, 1991

• The Complete Pablo Solo Masterpieces, Pablo, 1991

• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 6, Pablo, 1990

• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 7, Pablo, 1990

• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 4, Pablo, 1990

• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 2, Pablo, 1990

• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 3, Pablo, 1990

• The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 1, Pablo, 1990

• Art Tatum at His Piano, Vol. 1, Crescendo, 1990

• The Complete Pablo Group Masterpieces, Pablo, 1990

• The Complete Capitol Recordings, Vol. 1, Capitol, 1989

• The Complete Capitol Recordings, Vol. 2, Capitol, 1989

• Piano Starts Here, Columbia, 1987

• The Art Tatum-Ben Webster Quartet, Verve, 1956

• The Essential Art Tatum, Verve, 1956

• Still More of the Greatest Piano Hits of Them All, Verve, 1955

• More of the Greatest Piano Hits of All Time, Verve, 1955

• Makin' Whoopee, Verve, 1954

• The Greatest Piano Hits of Them All, Verve, 1954

• Solos 1940, 1989, Decca/MCA

• 1944, Giants Of Jazz, 1998

• Genius Of Keyboard 1954-56, Giants Of Jazz

External links

• Art Tatum at Duke University website
• Art Tatum's Music - Past Perfect

Credits

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