[Dixielandjazz] Art Tatum was Dick Hyman plays Art Tatum

[Steve Barbone]

Andy.Ling at quantel.com wrote (polite snip) about Dick Hyman Videos:

> here are some more by Dick Hyman. This time explaining how to play
> like Art Tatum

Thanks Andy for posting those You Tubes. Hyman is certainly an amazing
pianist and teacher. For those interested in Tatum's bio, below is from the
All About Jazz website: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=4818

Those with lots of time on their hands might search this wonderful site for
information about jazz. There is a lot on it. The site is headquarted in the
Philadelphia suburb of Springfield.

You can put your profile on it (FREE) and there are many services offered.
For more info, see http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/contactus.php

We need more of an OKOM presence on it.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Biography
Art Tatum was born Oct. 13, 1909 in Toledo, Ohio and despite being blind in
one eye and only partially sighted in the other he became arguably the
greatest jazz piano player who ever lived. He came from a musical family and
when younger had some formal training at the Toledo School of Music, however
he was largely self-taught. His teacher their recognized his talents and
tried to steer him towards as a career as a classical concert pianist. Tatum
was more interested in the music of Fats Waller, which would be a strong
influence on his music. At 18 he was playing interludes at a local radio
station and within a short period of time he had his own show. In 1932 he
was heard by the singer Adelaide Hall who brought him to New York as her
accompanist. One year later he made his first recordings, among which was
³Tiger Rag², though a 1932 test pressing of the the same song eventually
appeared. This song which features breakneck tempo and rippling left-hand
and right-hand cascades and crashing bass notes had every pianist in the
country amazed by his astonishing dexterity.

While in New York he established his reputation in ³cutting contests² with
other top pianists, which he never lost, overwhelming both Fats Waller and
James P. Johnson during his first visit to the Big Apple. He spent the next
few years playing in Cleveland, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles and even
England in 1938. During this time he established himself as a major figure
in jazz circles. In the early 1940s Tatum formed an extremely popular trio
with bassist Slam Stewart and guitarist Tiny Grimes. He spent much of the
next decade touring North America. In 1953 Tatum signed by producer Norman
Granz and recorded extensively both as a soloist and in small groups with
Benny Carter, Buddy DeFranco, Roy Eldridge, Lionel Hampton, Ben Webster,
Harry Sweets Edison and others. His incredible talent allowed him to be
extremely productive during this time. Ray Spencer in his biography, noted
that Tatum was constantly ³refining and honing down after each performance
until an ideal version remained needing no further adjustments². This
allowed him to achieve a remarkable work rate. For example, his solo
sessions for Granz were mostly completed in two days. That is a total of 69
tracks and all but three of them needed only one take. Sadly, on Nov. 5,
1956 his prodigious output was cut short when he died of uremia, however his
artistic influence has been strong and long-lasting.

The starting point of Art Tatum's style was Fats Waller's stride. As Tatum
once said, ³Fats, that's where I come out of and, man, that's quite a place
to come from². From this beginning he went on to create and superbly
original and creative style of playing piano. His left-handed figures where
similar to stride but he was really known for the way that he explored
harmonic complexities and unusual chord progressions. When improvising,
Tatum would often insert totally new chord sequences (occasionally with a
chord on each beat) into one or two measures. He also developed the habit of
quoting from other melodies, something that became a standard practice among
modern jazz musicians. What really set Tatum apart was his amazing technical
abilities which combined with his willingness to explore the imagined
limitations of the orthodox keyboard which produced astonishing rhythmic and
harmonic complexities. It is claimed that he could identify the dominant
note in a flushing toilet.

Perhaps the greatest tribute to the exc


ellence of Art Tatum lies in the opinions of his peers. He has influenced
many musicians including Bud Powell, Herbie Hancock, and even non-pianists
such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. Many would say that he inspired
the bebop revolution in jazz. When Oscar Peterson first heard him play he
thought it was two people and he considered Tatum the best jazz
instrumentalist of all time. Legend has it that classical pianist Vladimir
Horowitz was so awed by Tatum's wizardry that it brought him to tears; he
also is to have said that it was fortunate for classical pianists that Tatum
did not choose to pursue a classical career.

Fittingly, his strongest support comes from one of his early influences,
Fats Waller. One time in 1938 Tatum dropped in to hear Waller play at a
club. By way of introduction Waller told the audience, ³I just play the
piano, but God is in the house tonight