50 Art

Art Tatum (1909-1956) is one of the most important jazz pianists of all time, a role model even for Generation Y players like Christian Sands, born in 1989. Along with Earl Hines, Tatum was the style-setting pianist and a link between the early pioneers of jazz, such as Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller and James P. Johnson, and the bebop greats of modern jazz, all of whom were inspired by Tatum's modern sense of harmony. Charlie Parker is said to have worked as a dish washer in a club for weeks only to get closer to and more familiar with Tatum's playing…