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Art Tatum plays Dvorak Humoresque (1939) sheet music, Noten, partitura, spartiti, 楽譜, 乐谱
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Of course. Here is an exhaustive article on the life, music, and legacy of the unparalleled jazz pianist, Art Tatum.
The Virtuoso in the Shadows: An Exhaustive Examination of Art Tatum
In the pantheon of musical genius, few figures shine with as dazzling and intimidating a light as Art Tatum. To speak of him is to speak of the absolute apex of technical prowess, harmonic sophistication, and improvisational creativity in jazz. Blind from infancy, Tatum possessed an auditory perception and a physical connection to the piano that seemed to defy human limitation. He was, and remains, the musician’s musician—a phenomenon that fellow pianists approached not with envy, but with a sense of awe and reverent disbelief. His legacy is not merely a collection of recordings; it is a towering monument to what is possible on 88 keys.
Biography: The Toledo Prodigy
Early Life (1909 – late 1920s)
Arthur Tatum Jr. was born on October 13, 1909, in Toledo, Ohio. He was born with cataracts that left him legally blind. After a series of operations around the age of four, he regained sight in one eye, allowing him to perceive shapes and colors, but his vision remained extremely poor throughout his life. This profound visual impairment channeled his world into one of sound. He displayed an early aptitude for music, playing hymns by ear on the family’s piano and replicating piano roll recordings note-for-note.
He received some formal training at the Toledo School of Music, studying piano and, significantly, the violin. This string influence may have contributed to the fluid, legato, and often violin-like phrasing that would characterize his right-hand runs. By his mid-teens, Tatum was already a working professional, playing interludes on local radio stations and in Toledo’s bustling nightlife scene, primarily at clubs like Chippewa’s and the Tabernella. It was here that the legend began to form, as musicians passing through Toledo would hear this young, blind pianist and spread the word of his supernatural abilities.
Rise to National Prominence (1930s)
Tatum’s big break came in 1932 when the famed Adelaide Hall, in search of a new accompanist for her Broadway run in Shuffle Along, heard him play during a stop in Toledo. He moved to New York as her intermission pianist and quickly became the talk of the city. His first solo recordings, “Tiger Rag” and “Tea for Two” made in 1933, are seismic events in jazz history. They were so rhythmically complex, harmonically dense, and technically explosive that many accused Brunswick Records of speeding up the master tapes. They hadn’t. The world was simply hearing Art Tatum for the first time.
Throughout the 1930s, Tatum dominated the jazz scene. He became a fixture of the famous “cutting contests” or piano battles at after-hours clubs. Stories are legendary of established stars like Fats Waller or James P. Johnson, upon hearing Tatum walk in, graciously ceding the piano bench with a declaration like, “I only play the piano, but tonight God is in the house.” He secured a long-running residency at the Three Deuces on 52nd Street, the epicenter of jazz, and his fame grew through radio broadcasts and a prolific recording schedule, both as a soloist and with small groups.
Later Career and Legacy (1940s – 1956)
The 1940s saw Tatum adapt to the changing tides of jazz. While bebop, led by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, became the new avant-garde, Tatum’s style was already its own complete universe. However, his harmonic concepts were a direct prophecy of bebop. He began forming his most celebrated small groups: the Art Tatum Trio. Uniquely, this trio featured the guitar of Tiny Grimes (later replaced by the sublime Everett Barksdale) and the bass of Slam Stewart, who hummed along with his bowed solos an octave higher. This format allowed Tatum’s rhythmically fluid style to be anchored by a steady pulse, making his innovations more accessible without diminishing their power.
Tatum’s health, however, was in decline. A heavy drinker and lifelong insomniac, he was plagued by the effects of uremic poisoning. Despite this, his final years included two monumental recording projects: the solo “Group Masterpieces” and the still-stunning “Tatum Solo Masterpieces” for Norman Granz’s Clef label (later Pablo), which captured his art in its most distilled and powerful form. Art Tatum died on November 5, 1956, in Los Angeles, from complications of uremia. He was 47 years old.
Music Style and Technical Command
To describe Tatum’s style is to list superlatives. It was an alchemical fusion of several key elements:
- Stride Piano Foundation: He built upon the powerful left-hand technique of Harlem stride masters like James P. Johnson and Fats Waller. His left hand provided a rock-solid, rhythmic foundation of bass notes on beats 1 and 3 and chords on beats 2 and 4, but he would frequently interrupt this pattern with breathtaking runs, counter-melodies, and chordal substitutions that turned the left hand into a soloistic voice of its own.
- Orchestral Approach: Tatum didn’t just play the piano; he orchestrated on it. He created the illusion of multiple musicians at work. A typical Tatum performance might feature a roaring left-hand bass line, a central melodic statement, a counter-melody weaving through the middle register, and dazzling, flute-like arpeggios in the upper treble—all simultaneously.
- Velocity and Precision: His technique was simply otherworldly. His runs, often in triplets or sixteenth notes, were executed with flawless evenness and clarity at tempos that left others in the dust. He had immense strength in his fingers, allowing for powerful, percussive attacks, but could also produce a delicate, feather-light touch.
- Rhythmic Freedom: While he could swing with relentless drive, Tatum was a master of rhythmic displacement. He would launch into phrases that seemed to defy the bar lines, starting a run on an off-beat and resolving it several measures later with impossible logic. This constant tension and release was a core part of the excitement in his playing.
Improvisational Licks and Harmonic Language
Tatum’s improvisation was not based on simple licks in the way a blues guitarist might have a repertoire of clichés. His was a language of spontaneous re-composition. However, certain devices were central to his vocabulary:
- Reharmonization: This was Tatum’s greatest gift to jazz harmony. He would take a simple standard like “Tea for Two” or “Willow Weep for Me” and completely rebuild its chord structure in real-time.
- Chord Substitutions: He replaced simple diatonic chords with richer, more chromatic alternatives. A major chord might become a major 7th, a major 9th, or a major 7th with a raised 11th. A dominant 7th chord was a playground for alterations: flat 9ths, sharp 9ths, sharp 11ths, and flat 13ths were standard fare.
- Secondary Dominants and Turnarounds: He would insert passing dominant chords (ii-V progressions) to smoothly modulate to new, temporary tonal centers. His turnarounds (the chords leading back to the top of the form) became complex miniature compositions in themselves, often using the iconic “I-vi-ii-V” progression as a mere starting point for a labyrinthine harmonic journey.
- Voice Leading: The magic of his substitutions was that they were always connected by impeccable voice leading. Each note in a chord would move smoothly, often chromatically, to a note in the next chord, creating a seamless and logical flow even through the most dissonant and unexpected changes.
- Florid Runs and Arpeggios: Tatum’s right-hand runs were not mere scales. They were intricate patterns that often outlined the complex harmonies he was implying. He would arpeggiate chords upwards through several octaves, weaving in chromatic passing tones and neighbor notes with blinding speed.
- Quote and Parody: He had a vast mental library of classical snippets (Dvořák’s “Humoresque,” Debussy’s “Arabesque No. 1”), pop songs, and other jazz tunes, which he would interject humorously and seamlessly into his solos, a practice later adopted by musicians like Oscar Peterson.
Cooperation with Other Artists
While a titanic solo force, Tatum was also a generous and responsive ensemble player.
- The Classic Trio: His collaborations with guitarist Everett Barksdale and bassist Slam Stewart are the gold standard for the piano-guitar-bass format. He learned to temper his rhythmic freedom to lock in with the steady, swinging pulse of his bandmates, creating a more cohesive and driving group sound. The interplay is masterful, with Tatum often laying out or comping sparsely to feature Barksdale’s elegant solos or Stewart’s bizarre and wonderful humming-bowed solos.
- Ben Webster: The 1956 album The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 8 with tenor saxophonist Ben Webster is one of the great pairings in jazz. Webster’s lush, breathy, and emotionally direct tone (“the big sound”) provided a perfect foil for Tatum’s ornate filigree. Tatum demonstrates incredible sensitivity, accompanying Webster with sparse, beautifully chosen chords, proving his genius was not just about density and speed but about profound musical empathy.
- Roy Eldridge and Lionel Hampton: Norman Granz’s “Verve” sessions paired Tatum with fiery soloists like trumpeter Roy Eldridge and vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. These sessions crackle with energy, as the horn players push Tatum into a more aggressive, blues-drenched mode.
- Piano Duets: His recorded meetings with other pianists, such as Meade Lux Lewis and, most famously, a drunken but brilliant session with Bud Powell, are fascinating historical documents. The Powell meeting is particularly poignant, showing the respect the leading light of bebop had for his harmonic forefather.
Influences and Legacy
Influences on Tatum:
- Fats Waller: His primary influence, from whom he adopted stride techniques and a joyous rhythmic feel.
- James P. Johnson: The father of stride piano, whose complex compositions pushed technical boundaries.
- Earl Hines: Hines’s “trumpet style” right-hand lines and orchestral approach to the piano were deeply absorbed by Tatum.
- Classical Composers: He admired the harmonic language of Debussy and Ravel and the florid ornamentation of composers like Chopin and Liszt.
Tatum’s Influence on Others:
It is easier to list the jazz musicians who were not influenced by him. His impact was universal and profound:
- Pianists: Every jazz pianist who followed stands in his shadow. This includes direct descendants like Oscar Peterson (who was reportedly discouraged from piano for two months after first hearing Tatum), Erroll Garner, and Hank Jones, as well as bebop pioneers Bud Powell and Al Haig, and modern masters like Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, and Herbie Hancock.
- Non-Pianists: Charlie Parker studied Tatum’s records obsessively, transcribing his solos to understand his revolutionary harmonic approach. Saxophonist Charlie Christian, guitarist Django Reinhardt, and countless others incorporated his advanced chordal ideas into their playing.
- The Entire Jazz Language: Tatum is the crucial evolutionary link between the ragtime-stride tradition and the harmonic revolution of bebop. He proved that jazz could be a vehicle for virtuosic, complex, and intellectually rigorous art without losing its soul, swing, and blues feeling.
Major Works, Discography, and Filmography
Most Known Compositions and Performances:
While Tatum was primarily an interpreter of the Great American Songbook, a few performances are iconic:
- “Tiger Rag” (1933): The record that announced his genius to the world.
- “Tea for Two” (1933): A masterclass in reharmonizing a simple tune at breakneck speed.
- “Willow Weep for Me” (1949): A breathtaking solo performance that is a slow, blues-drenched tour de force of harmonic invention and deep feeling.
- “Over the Rainbow” (live versions): His go-to showpiece, a stunning transformation of the Arlen ballad into a epic, harmonically dense tapestry.
- “Yesterdays” (1953): A solo recording that showcases his incredible touch, rhythmic flexibility, and boundless creativity.
Discography (Select Essential Albums):
- Piano Starts Here (1949, but contains seminal 1933 tracks)
- The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces (1953-1955, 8 volumes)
- The Art Tatum Group Masterpieces (1954-1956, 8 volumes)
- The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 8 (with Ben Webster)
- God is in the House (live recordings from the 1940s)
Filmography:
Visual documentation of Tatum is scarce but precious:
- The Art Tatum Story (Vols. 1 & 2): A collection of all known film clips, including his only known appearance in a Hollywood film, The Fabulous Dorseys (1947), where he plays a devastating “Tiger Rag.”
- After Hours (1961 short film): Features Tatum playing “Yesterdays” and “Willow Weep for Me,” providing an invaluable close-up view of his technique.
Art Tatum: The Enduring Genius
Art Tatum was more than a jazz musician; he was a force of nature. He redefined the possibilities of his instrument and, in doing so, expanded the harmonic and technical vocabulary of an entire art form. His music remains a source of endless wonder, a challenge to aspiring musicians, and a pure, undiluted joy for listeners. In the darkness of his world, he created a universe of sound so bright, so complex, and so beautiful that it continues to illuminate the path for all who follow. He was, as the critic Leonard Feather so aptly put it, “the greatest creative talent in the history of jazz.” To listen to Art Tatum is to witness the sublime.