Biography of Art Tatum

The most prodigiously gifted pianist to turn his talent to jazz was born with gravely impaired eyesight and received his musical training at an institution for the blind in his native Toledo. Musicians who heard him there as early as 1924 claim he was as amazing then as when he became visible on the national jazz scene in the early 30s. He made his first records as accompanist to singer Adelaide Hail, but that was his last job working for someone else: he was a soloist to the manner born. Playing on 52nd Street and in nightclubs throughout the US, he made his first and only trip abroad to England in 1938, but even there he performed not in concert but on the vaudeville circuit. In 1943 he formed a trio with Tiny Grimes on guitar, and Slam Stewart on bass -- the format that brought him his greatest popular success. Even so, it wasn't until Norman Granz took him under his wing, just three years before his untimely death, that Tatum was recorded under proper auspices, with the care an artist of his stature deserved. Tatum's technique was staggering and rivaled that of the greatest classical virtuosos, but unlike them, he was able to give free rein to his imagination and fully exercise his phenomenal rhythmic sense. But even when he unleashed a torrent of notes, the melody was kept in focus. Tatum loved to "battle" with other pianists and was as likely as not to smother hornplayers who sat in with him. Yet he could be a marvelous accompanist when he wanted, to singers he liked or to a hornsman (like Ben Webster) who was not a technical whiz but a great melodist. And Tatum was a master of the blues. His audacious harmonic inventions had considerable influence on Charlie Parker, who listened to him with great attention during a New York stay in 1939. Tatum was a phenomenon. ~ Dan Morgenstern