Musicians - Art Tatum

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	Musicians - Art Tatum

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, some going so far as to say he was one of the greatest pianists of any musical genre. Critic Scott Yanow declares that "Tatum's recordings still have the ability to scare modern pianists."

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 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 that supported the melodies). He also had a penchant for filling spaces within melodies with his trademark runs and other embellishments, which some critics considered gratuitous and "unjazzlike."

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 playing was technically awesome, and his reharmonization concepts are still ahead of their time.

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 listen 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.

There are no films of Tatum playing, apart from a few fleeting seconds in the movie "The Fabulous Dorseys" and a couple of other brief images in a non-descript documentary. Tatum appeared on Steve Allen's Tonight Show in the early 1950's, and on other television shows from this era. However, 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 deposit 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 been a prolific beer drinker since his teenage years. He is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

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Musicians - Art Tatum

Biography

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