Art Art Tatum

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…

Verve's Ultimate Art Tatum may not live up to its billing, but the budget-priced collection is nevertheless a terrific introductory sampler. Hank Jones selected the 16 tracks on the compilation and he also wrote the liner notes. He did an excellent job balancing acknowledged classics with choices that illustrate Tatum's range. Some listeners will undoubtedly find a favorite or two missing, but these 16 tracks - including "Tenderly," "I Cover the Waterfront," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Yesterdays," "Willow Weep for Me," "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away)," "Sweet Lorraine," "There Will Never Be Another You," and "Too Marvelous for Words" - capture the essence of Tatum's Verve recordings, which is enough to make this a worthwhile sampler.

Originally released in 1973, God Is in the House features live performances from the Jerry Newman collection of acetate discs and are fortunately in better technical quality than most of the music from Newman's archives. The remarkable Art Tatum is heard playing three brief, unaccompanied piano solos in 1940, three other numbers in which he is accompanied by Reuben Harris (beating out some quiet rhythms with whiskbrooms on a suitcase), and four duets with bassist-vocalist Chocolate Williams; Tatum has a brief vocal on "Knockin' Myself Out" and a more extensive one on "Toledo Blues," the only times he ever sang on record. In addition, Tatum and Williams back Ollie Potter (a pretty good if completely unknown singer) on "There'll Be Some Changes Made"…

Collectors of recordings by piano great Art Tatum are frustrated by the many haphazard, poorly documented, and often incomplete collections of his work; this four-CD set by the English label Definitive attempts to collect all of his known recordings for Decca, but there are a few surprising twists. Tatum recorded many of his piano solos with several different takes, so as many as 23 alternate takes remain unissued (and are most likely either lost or unusable) according to Tatum discographer Arnold Laubich. But this is made up by the fact that all of his sessions with singer Adelaide Hall for Brunswick (including four previously unissued alternate takes, one of whose existence was not previously known) and every song he waxed with blues singer Joe Turner are present…

One of the most revered virtuosos in jazz would be 100 in 2009. Celebrate his innovations in dexterity and harmony as you hear his dazzling piano versions of Moonglow; Yesterday; This Can't Be Love; Tea for Two; In a Sentimental Mood; How High the Moon; Where or When and more!

MCA's short-lived Decca CD-reissue program put out this gem, all of Tatum's piano solos from 1940, including two versions of the previously unknown "Sweet Emalina, My Gal." Some of the routines on these standards were a bit familiar by now (this "Tiger Rag" pales next to his 1933 version) but are no less exciting and still sound seemingly impossible to play.

The final volume in this very worthy series is a comparatively relaxed affair, a quartet set with tenor saxophonist Ben Webster. Webster lets Tatum fill the background with an infinite number of notes while emphasizing his warm tenor in the forefront on a variety of melodic ballads and standards. The combination works very well.

This edition contains the complete LP "The Art Tatum-Ben Webster Quartet" (1958), as well as all known alternate takes from that glorious session. Acomplete quartet session by Webster with another celebrated pianist, Teddy Wilson, and a beautiful Tatum solo piano rendition of the LP's opening song have been added as a bonus.
The only album-length collaboration between pianist Art Tatum and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster (accompanied by a rhythm section of Red Callender, bass, and Bill Douglass, drums) was this September 11, 1956, session under the auspices of Norman Granz's Verve Records label…

The fifth installment of Classics' Art Tatum story contains 24 piano solos that showcase the musician as the one-man band he was. These are breathtaking studio recordings made for Captiol and Columbia and also live performances recorded at the "Just Jazz" concerts staged at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. While only one Tatum original is included, "Tatum-Pole Boogie," he mainly tackles standards like "Willow Weep for Me," "Someone to Watch over Me," "My Heart Stood Still," and "Makin Whoopee."