:Not to be confused with eulogy.
In literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.
Other than epitaphs, examples of ancient elegy as a poem of mourning include Catullus' Carmen 101, on his dead brother, and elegies by Propertius on his dead mistress Cynthia and a matriarch of the prominent Cornelian family. Ovid wrote elegies bemoaning his exile, which he likened to a death. A notable example that established the genre in English literature is Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1750).
"Elegy" (sometimes spelled elégie) may denote a type of musical work, usually of a sad or somber nature.
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| Name | Plastic Tree |
|---|---|
| Background | group_or_band |
| Origin | Chiba, Japan |
| Genre | Alternative rock |
| Years active | 1993-present |
| Label | Gio Records (1995-1997)Warner Music Japan (1997-2001)Entrance (1997-1998)Sweet Heart Records (2001 and 2003)Atmark Corporation (2002)Universal Music Japan (2003-2004 and 2006-2010)Sick Room Records (2003-2005)J-Rock (2005)Akatsuki label (2007-present)Tokuma Japan Communications (2010-) |
| Associated acts | Tatsuya Nishiwaki (1998) Shinobu Narita (1999-2002) Seiji Kameda (2003-2004) Masataka Kitaura (2007) Masao Akashi (2007-current) |
| Current members | Ryutaro ArimuraAkira NakayamaTadashi HasegawaKenken Sato |
| Past members | Shin (Drums) (left 1996)Takashi (Drums) (left 2001) Hiroshi "Bucchi" Sasabuchi (Drums) (left 2009) |
is a Japanese rock band which formed in December 1993 in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. They released their first mini-album in December 1995, and in 1997, they debuted by releasing their first single on a major label.
In 1995, they released their first mini-album after changing drummers twice.
Two years later, they released their first single, "Wareta Mado", with Warner Music Japan, marking their official debut and first release on a major label.
Plastic Tree planned their first overseas tour in 2006, named the Chandelier Tour, and performed concerts in France, Germany, and Finland.
On February 23, 2009, Hiroshi Sasabuchi announced his resignation as the band's drummer after being with the band for seven years. On July 3, 2009, Kenken Sato was announced as the band's new drummer. Since forming, they have had four different drummers.
Plastic Tree has stated that their sound has been considerably influenced by British bands such as Radiohead and The Cure.
The most easily recognizable signature of Plastic Tree's music is the melodic, child-like voice of Ryūtarō Arimura. Their sound is also aided by Arimura's abstract lyrics. All four band members collaborate to write songs and lyrics, with Arimura writing most of the lyrics.
Plastic Tree's current sound revolves around alternative rock.
Category:Japanese musical groups Category:Japanese rock music groups Category:Visual kei musicians
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| Name | Lisa Gerrard |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Lisa Gerrard |
| Origin | Melbourne, Australia |
| Born | April 12, 1961 |
| Genre | Neoclassical, New Age, Ethereal Wave, Gothic rock |
| Occupation | ComposerSingerMusician |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Instrument | VocalsYangqinAccordion |
| Notable songs | Now We Are FreeSanveanHost of the Seraphim |
| Label | Gerrard Records |
| Associated acts | Dead Can Dance |
| Url | Lisa Gerrard |
Lisa Gerrard (born April 12, 1961) is an Australian musician, singer, and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry.
Since her career began in 1981, she has been involved in a wide range of projects. Gerrard received a Golden Globe Award for the music score to the film Gladiator, on which she collaborated with Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt. In addition to singing, she is an instrumentalist for much of her work, most prolifically using the yangqin (a Chinese hammered dulcimer).
Gerrard's first foray into forming bands and creative music-making was the highly experimental Little Band scene. It was at one of these little band events that she first met Dead Can Dance cofounder Brendan Perry. Perry recalls, "It never occured to me that we would one day collaborate musically together because at the time I thought her music was too avant garde. I particularly remember one song that she sang about finding a man in the park and asking her mother if she could bring him home to keep in her wardrobe as she attacked this chinese dulcimer with two bamboo sticks."
In 1995 Gerrard recorded and released her first solo album The Mirror Pool. After the release of this album, she continued to work with Dead Can Dance, releasing their final album, Spiritchaser, in 1996. Following this, in 1998 she recorded Duality in collaboration with Pieter Bourke. This album would mark the beginning of an extensive collaboration together for a number of film scores, including The Insider and Ali. Gerrard began a new collaboration with Patrick Cassidy in 2004 with the release of Immortal Memory. Again, this collaboration was furthered in film work, including Salem's Lot.
The following year in 2005, Gerrard contributed to the Ashes and Snow Soundtrack. For the songs "Womb" and "Wisdom," Gerrard and Patrick Cassidy wrote and performed together. Gerrard's collaboration with Cassidy extended to include work with conductor Julie Rogers on the songs "Devota" and "Vespers."
In 2006, Sanctuary, a documentary about the life and work of Lisa Gerrard, was recorded and released in September 2006. It is the work of multi-skilled producer/director Clive Collier and features extensive interviews with Lisa Gerrard and various people who have collaborated and worked with her in the past including Michael Mann, Russell Crowe, Hans Zimmer, and Niki Caro. The documentary was released on DVD by Milan Entertainment on April 24, 2007.
In the same year, Lisa Gerrard released her second solo album The Silver Tree. This album was markedly different from her previous work and was also her first album released outside of 4AD Records. The album was first released on iTunes, with a wider physical release planned at a future date. The album was nominated for the Australian Music Prize for 2006. It is currently shortlisted as one out of nine of the best Australian albums. In 2007 a retrospective album The Best of Lisa Gerrard, a compilation of fifteen songs, was released covering her career in Dead Can Dance, solo work, and film work.
A world tour was undertaken in 2007 beginning in April in Melbourne, Australia. This tour marked the first time Lisa Gerrard had toured in Australia, with a performance in three cities. The tour was followed by performances in Europe and North America. More performances took place in Europe and Russia from October 30 to November 22, 2007. In November 2007, Lisa Gerrard collaborated with German electronic musician Klaus Schulze on the double-album Farscape. The album was released July 27, 2008 and was followed by a European tour.
In 2009 Lisa Gerrard completed work on the documentary by Australian adventurer Tim Cope called On the Trail of Genghis Khan and contributed her voice to the soundtrack, which began airing in 2010, of the Japanese NHK taiga drama Ryōmaden, a story based on the life of Sakamoto Ryoma. Also in 2009, Lisa Gerrard created her own record label, Gerrard Records, which, aside from being a conduit for the release of Gerrard's future works will also act to promote and support unrecognised artists of all genres. In September 2009, Gerrard and Klaus Schulze performed another tour in six European cities - Warsaw, Berlin, Amsterdam, Essen, Paris, and Brussels. This tour coincided with the release of Come Quietly, a joint project between Gerrard and Schulze that was released during the tour.
Lisa Gerrard released her third solo album, The Black Opal in October 2009. The album included collaboration with Michael Edwards, Patrick Cassidy, Pieter Bourke, and James Orr and was the first release to come from Gerrard Records.
In 2010 Gerrard released a new album with fellow composer Marcello De Francisci titled "Departum" from Gerrard Records which was followed by the release of three new singles; "Coming Home" - as featured in , "Entry" and "Come This Way".
Gerrard also collaborated with Prash Mistry from "Engine Earz Experiment" on a track titled "Spirit Guide" which will appear on his upcoming album in 2011.
On 1 December 2010 Gerrard capped off a busy 2010 with the release of a new soundtrack album with Cye Wood titled "The Trail of Genghis Khan" which contains music from the Gerrard/Wood score to the documentary TV series by Australian adventurer Tim Cope.
Lisa Gerrard has a contralto vocal range. Her vocals have been variously described as rich, jaw-dropping, deep, dark, mournful and unique. Her range spans from contralto to dramatic mezzo-soprano on such songs as The Host of Seraphim, Elegy, and Space Weaver. On the other songs Sanvean and Sacrifice, Gerrard performs in the dramatic contralto range.
Gerrard sings many of her songs, such as Now We Are Free, Come Tenderness, Serenity, The Valley of the Moon, Tempest and Sanvean in an idioglossia (an idiosyncratic language) that she has developed since the age of twelve.
Gerrard participated in a number of musical scores but came to fame as a film composer after recording The Insider in 1999, with Pieter Bourke, and Gladiator in 2000, with Hans Zimmer, which received an Academy Award nomination for best music score, although only Zimmer was nominated. It did, however, win a Golden Globe Award for both composers. Gerrard's score for the New Zealand independent film Whale Rider consisted entirely of solo material; a soundtrack album was released by 4AD.
In 2005 Gerrard collaborated with Ennio Morricone for Fateless followed by a collaboration with Jeff Rona on the score for the feature film "A Thousand Roads" and the song On an Ocean for the Henry Poole Is Here score. Gerrard along with Dead Can Dance also provided several contributions to the soundtrack of Baraka, a visual journey showcasing mankind's impact on our planet. Gerrard was also invited by Denez Prigent to collaborate with him on his piece "Gortoz a ran - J'attends" (meaning "I await"), a piece that was later used in the soundtrack of Ridley Scott's film Black Hawk Down.
In 2009 Lisa Gerrard wrote the score for Balibo, for which she won a Best Feature Film Score award at the 2009 APRA Screen Music Awards and an Aria Award for Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album at the 2009 Aria Awards. Gerrard finished 2009 by contributing her voice to the theme song for the Japanese NHK taiga drama Ryōmaden, which began airing in 2010.
In 2010 Gerrard completed the score for "Tears of Gaza" with Marcello De Francisci which was well received despite its controversial theme. Gerrard also scored the Jim Loach directed Oranges and Sunshine starring Emily Watson and Hugo Weaving which is set for release in April 2011.
In November 2010 Gerrard provided vocals and additional music for the post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller Priest scored by Christopher Young which is also set for release in 2011.
Category:1961 births Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:4AD artists Category:Australian female singers Category:Contraltos Category:Female film score composers Category:Australian film score composers Category:Australian composers Category:Australian women composers Category:Women composers Category:Musicians from Melbourne Category:Mission: Impossible music Category:Australian people of Irish descent
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| Name | Ken Hirai |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Born | January 17, 1972 |
| Origin | Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Genre | R&B;, Pop |
| Occupation | Singer, songwriter, record producer |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Label | DefStar Records |
| Url |
is a Japanese R&B; and pop singer. Since his debut, Hirai has worked as a model, actor, composer, lyricist, singer, and spokesperson.
During his career, Hirai has released 32 singles and 11 albums up until October 2010. According to Oricon, his single "Hitomi Wo Tojite(Close Your Eyes)" became the best-selling single of 2004 in Japan. While his compilation album Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary Complete Single Collection '95–'05 "Utabaka" became the best-selling album of 2006 in Japan.
Hirai began his music career back in 1993 when he signed with Sony Music following a competitive audition in Yokohama the previous year while he was a university student. His debut single "Precious Junk" and album were recorded the following year in 1994 and released in 1995. The first single, used as the theme to a TV drama, immediately garnered Hirai attention and his second single, was also used for a drama, further capitalizing on his unique sound. Hirai's debut album, Un-balanced, went on sale the same year and was followed by a second, Stare At, in December 1996.
Hirai had already shown that he had the urge to perform abroad, so he made a live appearance on the Music Fair show in March 2002 with producer/singer Babyface from a Los Angeles studio. In the summer of that same year, Hirai earned the title of Best Male Artist at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards Japan, and appeared at the official FIFA World Cup 2002 concert with Chemistry and Lauryn Hill.
Already an established star, Hirai went one step further when he released a cover of ; a Japanese version of "My Grandfather's Clock" by Henry Clay Work) in 2002. A popular nursery rhyme, it was expected to be a minor success, but went on to become one of the biggest hits of the year.
In 2003, Hirai performed for MTV Unplugged Live in New York, as the first Japanese male solo vocalist. He was also interviewed by CNN The Music Room, which was televised in 210 countries, and watched by 230 million viewers. His 5th album Life Is..., which contains "Strawberry Sex", "Ring", and his hit single "Ōki na Furudokei", was released on January 22, 2003.
On December 1, 2003, a conceptual album, Ken's Bar, was released. In the album, Hirai selected his favorite songs and covered in his own style. The music was primarily jazz oriented, but covers of many blues numbers were present as well.
Hirai's 2005 single, "Pop Star", was one of his career's biggest hits, spawning multiple imitations and reaching Number One on the Oricon Charts. The video for the song, which featured Hirai playing 7 different characters and animals, became an instant hit. A cover of the song was featured on the rhythm game Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 for the Nintendo DS, and Namco popular Taiko game Taiko no Tatsujin 8.
In August 2007, Hirai released his 27th single, titled "Fake Star", along with a music video that was considered a huge departure for the star due to its risqué subject material.
On February 20, 2008, Hirai released his 28th and 1st double A-side single, titled "Canvas/Kimi wa Suteki (You're Wonderful)". The singles debuted at number 6 on the Oricon charts.
"Canvas" is used as the insert and ending theme song to Fuji TV's Hachimitsu to Clover drama, which is based on a popular manga. It was written and composed by Hirai, and arranged by Tomita Keichi, as with Hirai's 17th single, "Ring".
On March 12, 2008, Hirai released his seventh studio album, Fakin' Pop. Fakin' Pop is Hirai's first studio offering since 2004's Sentimentalovers.
Hirai released his 29th single, on April 23, 2008. The song is a recut single from Fakin' Pop and was the theme song for the Japanese drama .
On May 27, 2009, Hirai released Ken's Bar II, continuing the concept of creating jazz covers of his favorite Japanese and English songs. He held a 2009 summer concert tour in Japan under the same name.
On September 23, 2009, Hirai released his 30th single, "Candy".
On October 21, Hirai's 31st and latest single, titled , was released.
On October 13, 2010, Hirai's 32nd single "Sing Forever" was released. His 33rd single coming out on November 10, 2010 is called "Aishiteru," followed by a new compilation entitled 'Ken Hirai 15th Anniversary c/w Collection '95-'10 "Ura Utabaka"' to celebrate his fifteen years being a singer in the music industry. The compilation includes all the b-sides starting from the first single "Precious Junk."
Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:People from Higashiōsaka Category:People from Mie Prefecture Category:Japanese singer-songwriters Category:Japanese male singers Category:Japanese rhythm and blues singers Category:Sony Music Japan artists
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| Name | Isabel Coixet |
|---|---|
| Birth date | April 09, 1960 |
| Birth place | Sant Adrià de Besòs, Barcelona, Spain |
| Goyaawards | Best Adapted Screenplay2003 My Life Without Me Best Director2005 The Secret Life of Words Best Original Screenplay2005 The Secret Life of Words Best Documentary2007 Invisibles |
Isabel Coixet (born 9 April 1960 in Sant Adrià de Besòs, Barcelona, Spain) is a Spanish film director.
She received an M.A. in history from the University of Barcelona. She has worked as a journalist and as a director for several television advertisements.
Category:Spanish film directors Category:Spanish music video directors Category:Catalan film directors Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:Best Director Goya Award winners
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| Name | Dario Marianelli |
|---|---|
| Birth date | June 21, 1963 |
| Birth place | Pisa, Italy |
| Academyawards | Best Original Score2007 Atonement |
| Goldenglobeawards | Best Original Score2007 Atonement |
Dario Marianelli (born June 21, 1963 in Pisa, Italy) is a composer of piano, orchestral, and film music. He has composed the soundtracks for The Brothers Grimm (2005) and Pride & Prejudice (2005). He received Oscar nominations for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score for Pride & Prejudice and Atonement. He has won Best Original Score for the score of Atonement at the 80th Academy Awards and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. He has collaborated with Joe Wright three times, on Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, and The Soloist.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%"
|-
!width="13%"|Year
!width="29%"|Film
!width="40%"|Awards & nominations
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|1994
|Ailsa
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|1995
|The Long Way Home
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|1997
|''The Sheep Thief
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|1997
|''I Went Down
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|1999
|Preserve
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|1999
|The Funeral of the Last Gypsy King
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|1999
|Southpaw: The Francis Barrett Story
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2000
|Being Considered
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2001
|The Man Who Bought Mustique
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2001
|''Pandaemonium
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2001
|''The Warrior
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2002
|The Visitor
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2002
|Blood Strangers
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2002
|''In This World
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2003
|''I Capture the Castle
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2003
|''This Little Life
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2003
|Cheeky
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2005
|The Warrior
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2005
|''The Brothers Grimm
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2005
|Sauf le respect que je vous dois
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2005
|''Pride & Prejudice
|Academy Award - Original Score (nominated)World Soundtrack Award for Soundtrack and Soundtrack Composer of the YearEuropean Film Award - Best Composer
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2006
|''The Return
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2006
|''V for Vendetta
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2006
|''Opal Dream
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2007
|Atonement
|Academy Award - Original Score (won)Golden Globe Award - Best Original Score (won)BFCA Critics' Choice Award - Best Composer
CFCA Awards - Original ScoreInternational Film Music Critics (four categories - won)Satellite AwardBAFTA Film Award - Best Music
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2007
|''Far North
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2007
|''The Color of Freedom (Goodbye Bafana)
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2007
|''The Brave One
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2007
|''We Are Together
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2007
|Beyond the Gates
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2008
|''Shrooms
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2009
|''The Soloist
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2009
|''Everybody's Fine
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2009
|''Agora
|Goya Awards (Spain)
|align="center"|2009
|- valign="top"
|align="center"|2010
|Eat, Pray, Love
|}
Film Composer of The Year
Best Original Score - Drama
Film Music Composition of The Year
Category:1963 births Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Living people Category:People from Pisa Category:Italian composers
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| Image size | 150px |
|---|---|
| Caption | Kingsley at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival |
| Birth name | Krishna Pandit Bhanji |
| Birth date | December 31, 1943 |
| Birth place | Snainton, England |
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse | Angela Morant (1966–1972)Alison Sutcliffe (1978–1992)Alexandra Christmann (2003–2005)Daniela Lavender (2007–present) |
Kingsley's father, born in Kenya, is of Gujarati Indian descent; Kingsley's paternal grandfather was a spice trader who had moved from India to Zanzibar, where Kingsley's father lived until moving to England at the age of 14. Ben Kingsley's mother, born out of wedlock, was "loath to speak of her background"; she was the daughter of an English mother who worked in the garment district of East London, and a father who was believed by the family to have been a Russian or German Jew.
Kingsley grew up in Pendlebury, near Salford. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, an independent school in Manchester in north-west England, where one of his classmates was the actor Robert Powell. He later studied at the University of Salford and at Pendleton College, which later became home to the Ben Kingsley Theatre.
Kingsley's first film role was a supporting turn in Fear Is the Key, released in 1972. Kingsley continued starring in bit roles in both film and television, including a role as Ron Jenkins on the soap opera Coronation Street from 1966 to 1967 and regular appearances as a defence counsel in the long-running British legal programme Crown Court. In 1975 he starred as Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the BBCs historical drama The Love School. He found fame only years later, starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the Academy Award-winning film Gandhi in 1982, his best-known role to date.
In 1984, he won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word or Nonmusical Recording for The Words of Gandhi. He was awarded the Indian civilian honor Padma Shri in 1985.
In May 2010, Kingsley was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He currently lives in Spelsbury, Oxfordshire, England, where he has lived for more than ten years.
Category:1943 births Category:Actors awarded British knighthoods Category:Alumni of the University of Salford Category:Anglo-Indian people Category:European Film Awards winners (people) Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Best Actor BAFTA Award winners Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:British actors of South Asian descent Category:English people of Indian descent Category:English people of Russian descent Category:English film actors Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Living people Category:Old Mancunians Category:Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from Pendlebury Category:People from Snainton Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members Category:Shakespearean actors
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| Img alt | Portrait photograph of Bear McCreary |
|---|---|
| Name | Bear McCreary |
| Background | non_performing_personnel |
| Born | February 17, 1979 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Label | La La Land Records |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Spouse | Raya Yarbrough |
Bear McCreary (born 17 February 1979) is a classically-trained American composer and musician living in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for his work on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series.
From 1998 until 2005, McCreary built up a significant body of work scoring short films, including Jon Chu's musical When the Kids Are Away. McCreary is a trained pianist and a self-taught accordionist, and plays in the avant-jazz band 17 Billion Miles of DNA.
McCreary is married to singer/songwriter Raya Yarbrough, with whom he worked on the music of Battlestar Galactica.
The score to the finale of season 1, "Christopher Chance", utilized the largest orchestra ever assembled for episodic television, and he took the opportunity to re-record the main title theme with a new orchestration with this larger ensemble.
In July 2010, he received his first Emmy nomination for the Human Target theme.
In a post on his blog on July 25, 2010, Bear announced the new creative leadership brought in for season 2 had not asked him to return for it, and he would be leaving the series.
Bear is currently working on The Knights of Badassdom, his second movie with director Joe Lynch (of ) and third time for actress Summer Glau.
He has made an 8-bit rendition of the Dark Void theme, which was originally an April Fools joke. However, the theme was used for the 8-bit prequel, Dark Void Zero. He composed all the songs in a 8-bit fashion by connecting the wires on an actual NES console and cartridge to create authenticity.
Bear is currently composing SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs for the PS3, due in 2011.
He arranged James Rolfe's Angry Video Game Nerd 2010 Christmas video for the You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch song parody, with orchestra and 8-bit audio elements.
Category:1979 births Category:American accordionists Category:American film score composers Category:American television composers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Florida Category:Musicians from Washington (U.S. state) Category:People from Bellingham, Washington Category:People from Fort Lauderdale, Florida Category:University of Southern California alumni
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| Name | Art Tatum |
|---|---|
| Background | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
| Birth name | Arthur Tatum, Jr. |
| Born | October 13, 1909 |
| Died | November 05, 1956 |
| Origin | Toledo, Ohio, U.S. |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Genre | Jazz, stride |
| Occupation | Jazz pianist |
| Years active | 1927–1956 |
Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. Critic Scott Yanow wrote, "Tatum's quick reflexes and boundless imagination kept his improvisations filled with fresh (and sometimes futuristic) ideas that put him way ahead of his contemporaries ... Art Tatum's recordings still have the ability to scare modern pianists."
Tatum was born in Toledo, Ohio. His father, Arthur Tatum, Sr., was a guitarist and an elder at Grace Presbyterian Church, where his mother, Mildred Hoskins, played piano. He had two siblings, Karl and Arlene. From infancy he suffered from cataracts of disputed cause which left him blind in one eye and with only very limited vision in the other. A number of surgical procedures improved his eye condition to a degree but some of the benefits were reversed when he was assaulted in 1930 at age 20.
A child prodigy with perfect pitch, Tatum learned to play by ear, picking out church hymns by the age of three, learning tunes from the radio and copying piano-roll recordings his mother owned. He developed an incredibly fast playing style, without losing accuracy. As a child he was also very sensitive to the piano's intonation and insisted it be tuned often. While playing piano was the most obvious application of his skills, he also had an encyclopedic memory for Major League Baseball statistics.
In 1925, Tatum moved to the Columbus School for the Blind, where he studied music and learned braille. Subsequently he studied piano with Overton G. Rainey at either the Jefferson School or the Toledo School of Music. Rainey, who too was visually impaired, likely taught Tatum in the classical tradition, as Rainey did not improvise and discouraged his students from playing jazz. In 1927, Tatum began playing on Toledo radio station WSPD as 'Arthur Tatum, Toledo's Blind Pianist', during interludes in Ellen Kay's shopping chat program and soon had his own program. By the age of 19, Tatum was playing with singer Jon Hendricks, also an Ohioan, at the local Waiters' and Bellmens' Club. As word of Tatum spread, national performers, including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Joe Turner and Fletcher Henderson, passing through Toledo would make it a point to drop in to hear the piano phenomenon.
Tatum drew inspiration from the pianists James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, who exemplified the stride piano style, and from the more 'modern' Earl Hines, six years Tatum's senior. A major event in his meteoric rise to success was his appearance at a cutting contest in 1933 at Morgan's bar in New York City that included Waller, Johnson and Willie "The Lion" Smith. Standard contest pieces included Johnson's "Harlem Strut" and "Carolina Shout" and Fats Waller's "Handful of Keys." Tatum triumphed with his arrangements of "Tea for Two" and "Tiger Rag", in a performance that was considered to be the last word in stride piano. Tatum's debut was historic because he outplayed the elite competition and heralded the demise of the stride era. He was not challenged further until stride specialist Donald Lambert initiated a half-serious rivalry with him.
Tatum worked in New York at the Onyx Club for a few months and recorded his first four solo sides on the Brunswick label in March, 1933. In 1937 he returned to New York where he appeared at clubs and played on national radio programs. playing for three months at Ciro's Club owned by bandleader Ambrose. In the late 1930s he returned to play and record in Los Angeles and New York.
In 1941, Tatum recorded two sessions for Decca Records with singer, Big Joe Turner, the first of which included "Wee Wee Baby Blues", which attained national popularity. Two years later Tatum won Esquire Magazine's first jazz popularity poll. Perhaps believing there was a limited audience for solo piano, Tatum formed a trio in 1943 with guitarist Tiny Grimes and bassist Slam Stewart, whose perfect pitch enabled him to follow Tatum's excursions. Tatum recorded exclusively with the trio for almost two years, but abandoned the trio format in 1945 and returned to solo piano work. Although Tatum was idolized by many jazz musicians, his popularity faded in the mid to late forties with the advent of bebop - a movement which Tatum did not embrace.
Tatum was an innovator in reharmonizing melodies by changing the supporting chord progressions or by altering the root movements of a piece. This technique casts a familiar theme in a fresh light and gives the music an unexpected quality. Many of his harmonic concepts and larger chord voicings (e.g., 13th chords with various flat or sharp intervals) were well ahead of their time in the 1930s (except for their partial emergence in popular songs of the jazz age) and they would be explored by bebop-era musicians a decade later. He worked some of the upper extensions of chords into his lines, a practice which was further developed by Bud Powell and Charlie Parker, which in turn was an influence on the development of 'modern jazz'. Tatum also pioneered the use of dissonance in jazz piano, as can be heard, for example, on his recording of "Aunt Hagar's Blues", which uses extensive dissonance to achieve a bluesy effect. In addition to using major and minor seconds, dissonance was inherent in the complex chords that Tatum frequently used.
Tatum could also play the blues with authority, but his repertoire was predominantly Broadway and popular standards, whose chord progressions and variety better suited his talents. His approach was elaborate, pyrotechnic, dramatic and joyous. His protean style combined stride, jazz, swing, boogie-woogie and classical elements, while the musical ideas flowed in rapid-fire fashion. He was playful, spontaneous and often inserted quotes from other songs into his improvisations. Tatum was not inclined toward understatement or expansive use of space. He seldom played in a simplified way, preferring interpretations that displayed his great technique and clever harmonizations. A handful of critics have complained that Tatum played too many notes or was too ornamental or was even 'unjazzlike'.
From the foundation of stride, Tatum made great leaps forward in technique and harmony and he honed a groundbreaking improvisational style that extended the limits of what was possible in jazz piano. His innovations were to greatly influence later jazz pianists, such as Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson, Billy Taylor, Bill Evans and Chick Corea. One of Tatum's innovations was his extensive use of the pentatonic scale, which may have inspired later pianists to further mine its possibilities as a device for soloing. Herbie Hancock described Tatum's unique tone as "majestic" and devoted some time to unlocking this sound and to noting Tatum's harmonic arsenal.
The sounds that Tatum produced with the piano were also distinctive. It was said that he could make a bad piano sound good. Generally playing at mezzoforte volume, he employed the entire keyboard from deep bass tones to sonorous mid-register chords to sparkling upper register runs. He used the sustain pedal sparingly so that each note was clearly articulated and chords were cleanly sounded. Tatum's harmonic invention produced tonal colors that identified his musical palette. He played with boundless energy and occasionally his speedy and precise delivery produced an almost mechanical effect not unlike the sound of a player piano.
Tatum played chords with a relatively flat-fingered technique compared to the curvature taught in classical training. Jimmy Rowles said "Most of the stuff he played was clear over my head. There was too much going on — both hands were impossible to believe. You couldn't pick out what he was doing because his fingers were so smooth and soft, and the way he did it — it was like camouflage." When his fastest tracks of "Tiger Rag" are slowed down, they still reveal a coherent, syncopated rhythm.
Tatum did not readily adapt or defer to other musicians in ensemble settings. Early in his career he was required to restrain himself when he worked as accompanist for vocalist Adelaide Hall in 1932-33. Perhaps because Tatum believed there was a limited audience for solo piano, he formed a trio in 1943 with guitarist Tiny Grimes and bassist Slam Stewart, whose perfect pitch enabled him to follow Tatum's excursions. He later recorded with other musicians, including a notable session with the 1944 Esquire Jazz All-Stars, which included Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and other jazz greats, at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. He also recorded memorable group sessions for Norman Granz in the mid-1950s.
Tatum appeared on Steve Allen's Tonight Show in the early 1950s, and on other television shows from this era. Unfortunately, all of the kinescopes of the Allen shows, which were stored in a warehouse along with other now defunct shows, were thrown into a local rubbish dump to make room for new studios. However, the soundtracks were recorded off-air by Tatum enthusiasts at the time, and many are included in Storyville Records extensive series of rare Tatum recordings.
Tatum is portrayed briefly (by actor Johnny O'Neill) in Ray, a 2004 biopic about R&B; artist Ray Charles. When Charles enters a nightclub he remarks "Are my ears deceiving me or is that Art Tatum?" O'Neill captures Tatum's cool and collected presence at the keyboard.
Numerous stories exist about other musicians' respect for Tatum. Perhaps the most famous is the story about the time Tatum walked into a club where Fats Waller was playing, and Waller stepped away from the piano bench to make way for Tatum, announcing, "I only play the piano, but tonight God is in the house." Fats Waller's son confirmed the statement.
Charlie Parker (who helped develop bebop) was highly influenced by Tatum. When newly arrived in New York, Parker briefly worked as a dishwasher in a Manhattan restaurant where Tatum was performing and often listened to the legendary pianist. Parker once said “I wish I could play like Tatum’s right hand!”
When Oscar Peterson was still a young boy, his father played him a recording of Art Tatum performing "Tiger Rag". Once the young Peterson was finally persuaded that it was performed by a single person, Peterson was so intimidated that he did not touch the piano for weeks. Interviewing Oscar Peterson in 1962, Les Tompkins asked "Is there one musician you regard as the greatest?" Peterson replied "I’m an Art Tatum–ite. If you speak of pianists, the most complete pianist that we have known and possibly will know, from what I’ve heard to date, is Art Tatum." "Musically speaking, he was and is my musical God, and I feel honored to remain one of his humbly devoted disciples."
"Here's something new .... " pianist Hank Jones remembers thinking when he first heard Art Tatum on radio in 1935, " .... they have devised this trick to make people believe that one man is playing the piano, when I know at least three people are playing."
The jazz pianist and educator Kenny Barron commented that "I have every record [Tatum] ever made — and I try never to listen to them … If I did, I'd throw up my hands and give up!" Jean Cocteau dubbed Tatum "a crazed Chopin." Count Basie called him the eighth wonder of the world. Dave Brubeck observed, "I don't think there's any more chance of another Tatum turning up than another Mozart." Pianist Mulgrew Miller, a noted fan of Tatum, commented on personal growth by saying, "When I talk to the people I admire, they're always talking about continuous growth and development and I look at them and say, 'Well...what are YOU going to do?'. But, as Harold Mabern says, 'There's always Art Tatum records around'". Dizzy Gillespie said "First you speak of Art Tatum, then take a long deep breath, and you speak of the other pianists."
The elegant pianist Teddy Wilson observed, "Maybe this will explain Art Tatum. If you put a piano in a room, just a bare piano. Then you get all the finest jazz pianists in the world and let them play in the presence of Art Tatum. Then let Art Tatum play ... everyone there will sound like an amateur."
Jazz critic Leonard Feather has called Tatum "the greatest soloist in jazz history, regardless of instrument."
The Toledo Jazz Society presents an annual event dedicated to Tatum entitled the Art Tatum Jazz Heritage Festival.
Zenph Studios, a software company focused on precisely understanding how musicians perform, recorded a new album of Tatum’s playing with Sony Masterworks in 2007. They created re-performances of Tatum’s first four commercial tracks, from March 21, 1933, and the nine tracks from the April 2, 1949 live concert at L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium. Sony recorded these anew in the same venue, in front of a live audience. These 13 tracks are on the album, “Piano Starts Here: Live from The Shrine,” which was recorded in high-resolution surround-sound and in binaural, as well as regular stereo. The binaural recording, when heard in headphones, let you hear what Tatum may have heard as he played on stage, with the piano spatially in front (bass on the left, treble on the right) and the live audience clearly downstage on the righthand side. Zenph’s re-performances have been performed live in numerous venues, including the Toronto Jazz Festival and New York’s Apollo Theater. Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson requested a live presentation, which he heard in an emotional re-performance in his home in March 2007.
Tatum's work was used and referenced heavily in the WB TV series Everwood (2002–2006), with some actual sound recordings used and compositions being performed in concerts by Ephram Brown (portrayed by Gregory Smith) in select episodes. James Earl Jones' character Will Cleveland introduced these works to young Ephram, who was an aspiring pianist, in the second season episode "Three Miners From Everwood".
For his 2008 album “Act Your Age,” Gordon Goodwin wrote a new big band arrangement to accompany Zenph’s re-performance of “Yesterdays,” and the track was recognized with a Grammy Nomination for Best Instrumental Arrangement.
In 2009 in Toledo at the new Lucas County Arena a memorial was placed to Art Tatum.
Category:1909 births Category:1956 deaths Category:Swing pianists Category:Stride pianists Category:American jazz pianists Category:African American musicians Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:People from Toledo, Ohio Category:Blind musicians Category:Deaths from renal failure Category:Verve Records artists Category:Capitol Records artists
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