in 1967.]]

Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instrument's combined melodic and harmonic capabilities. For this reason it is an important tool of jazz musicians and composers for teaching and learning jazz theory and set arrangement. (By extension the phrase 'jazz piano' can refer to similar techniques on any keyboard instrument.)

Along with the guitar, vibraphone, and other keyboard instruments, the piano is one of the instruments in a jazz combo that can play both single notes and chords rather than only single notes as does the saxophone or trumpet.

Technique

Learning jazz piano

Mastering the various chord voicings—simple to advanced—are the first building blocks of learning jazz piano. Jazz piano technique uses all the chords found in Western art music, such as major, minor, augmented, diminished, seventh, diminished seventh, sixth, minor seventh, major seventh, sus 4, and so on. A second key skill is learning to play with a swing rhythm. The next step is improvisation: 'making it up' on the spot. This ability is perfected after long (and quality) experience, including much practice, which internalizes the physical skills of playing; and it requires a great natural 'ear' for extemporaneous music-making.

Jazz piano (the technique) and the instrument itself offer soloists an exhaustive number of choices. One may play the bass register in an ostinato pattern, as those found in boogie-woogie, or as a melodic counterline that emulates the walking of an upright bass. In stride piano the left hand rapidly plays alternate positions between notes in the bass register and chords in the tenor register, as is often done in the syncopated variants. The right hand may play melodic lines, but might also play harmonic content, chordally or in octaves. And, it may be played in lockstep with the left hand, using a double melody block chord called "locked-hand" voicing, or Shearing voicing—a technique popularized, though not invented, by the pianist and set leader George Shearing.

Ensemble role

Jazz piano has played a leading role in developing the sound of jazz. Early on, black jazz musicians created ragtime on the piano. As the genre progressed the piano usually was featured in the rhythm section of a band, which was typically configured as one or more of piano, guitar, bass, or drums, or other, such as the vibraphone.

Over time, playing piano-accompaniment in ensemble sets, and then bands, changed from primarily time-keeping (consisting of repetitive left-hand figures) to a more flexible role. Ultimately, the skilled pianist was free both to lead and to answer the instrumental soloist, using both short and sustained, chordal and melodic, fragments—a technique known as 'comping'. Good comping musicians were capable of many and different chord voicings, so to match the various moods the different soloists were aiming for. In the early days not all leading pianists were concerned to provide comping. Others—notably Duke Ellington, who became famous during the Harlem Renaissance at the Cotton Club—achieved much favored standing among members of his bands as well as other musicians because he comped enthusiastically in support of the soloist and did much to develop the technique.

Jazz piano moved away from playing lead melody to providing foundation for song sets; soon, skilled jazz pianists were performing as soloists. In the 1940s and -50s, a number of great piano players emerged. Pianists like Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell helped create and establish the sound of bebop. Bill Evans built upon the style of Bud Powell while adding a distinct classical influence to his playing. Much of his sound and many of his ideas went in to the making of Kind of Blue. Wynton Kelly, Red Garland, and Herbie Hancock were also exceptional pianists who played with Miles Davis. Tommy Flanagan was featured by John Coltrane on his hit album Giant Steps.

Performers

See also

Swing (jazz performance style), a term of praise for playing that has a strong rhythmic "groove" or drive

Sources

The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine: A "how to" book on the subject.

Metaphors For The Musician by Randy Halberstadt: Insights into almost every aspect of jazz piano.

Stylistic II/V7/I Voicings For Keyboardists by Luke Gillespie: Covers all styles of comping, from basic and fundamental approaches to modern.

Forward Motion by Hal Galper: An approach to Jazz Phrasing.

Jazz Piano: The Left Hand by Riccardo Scivales (Bedford Hills, New York, Ekay Music, 2005): A method covering all the left hand techniques used in jazz piano (and also a study of the history of the Left Hand in Jazz Piano), with hundreds of musical examples.

"The Jazz Musician's Guide to Creative Practicing" by David Berkman: Covers the problems of jazz improvisational practice with a focus on the piano, but for all instruments. (Also, it's entertaining and humorous).

External links

Jazz on Piano - A portal and blog on Jazz Piano tips and tricks

Piano Jazz - Marian McPartland's program on National Public Radio

Learn Jazz Piano - LearnJazzPiano.com Scot Ranney's site on jazz piano

How to Improvise Around the Circle of Fifths Video explaining the circle of fifths and how to use it to improvise Jazz piano with

Developing Jazz Piano Technique - Short article covering the basic points of developing jazz piano technique

Category:Jazz instruments Category:Piano Category:Accompaniment

Jaki (John) Byard (June 15, 1922 in Worcester, Massachusetts – February 11, 1999 in New York City) was an American jazz pianist and composer who also played trumpet and saxophone, among several other instruments. He was noteworthy for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz. In describing his contribution to the Phil Woods album Musique du Bois, National Public Radio described him as "one of the most compelling and versatile pianists in jazz".

Byard began playing professionally at the age of 15. After serving in World War II he toured with Earl Bostic in the late 1940s, and, by now based in Boston, made his recording debut with Charlie Mariano in 1951. Later, he was a member of the bands of Herb Pomeroy (1952-55, recording in 1957) and Maynard Ferguson (1959-62).

Moving to New York, Byard recorded extensively with Charles Mingus in the periods 1962 to 1964 and 1970, touring Europe with him in 1964. He also made important recordings as a sideman with Eric Dolphy, Booker Ervin and Sam Rivers. As a leader, he recorded a string of albums for the Prestige label during the 1960s. He fronted an occasional big band, the Apollo Stompers. He taught at the New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Hartt School of Music and the New School for Social Research.

Byard was shot dead in 1999. The circumstances surrounding his death have not been determined.

Discography

As leader

Blues for Smoke, solo piano, 1960

Here's Jaki, with Ron Carter and Roy Haynes, 1961

Hi-Fly, with Ron Carter and Pete La Roca, 1962

Out Front!, with Booker Ervin, Ron Carter and Roy Haynes, 1964

The Jaki Byard Quartet Live!, 1965

Freedom Together!, with Richard Davis and Junior Parker, 1966

Sunshine Of My Soul, with Elvin Jones and David Izenzon, 1967

Jaki Byard With Strings, 1968

The Jaki Byard Experience, with Roland Kirk, Richard Davis und Alan Dawson, 1968

Solo Piano, 1969

Duet!, 1972 (MPS Records)

Family Man, 1978

On The Spot!, with Jimmy Owens, Paul Chambers, Billy Higgins and Alan Dawson, 1999

The Last From Lennie's, with Joe Farrell, George Tucker and Alan Dawson, 2003

As sideman

With Eric Dolphy

''Far Cry (1960)

With Booker Ervin

''The Freedom Book (1963)

With Roland Kirk

Rip Rig & Panic (1965)

With Charles Mingus

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)

Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963)

Astral Weeks (1964)

With Sam Rivers

Fuchsia Swing Song (1964)

References

Category:1922 births Category:1999 deaths Category:people from Worcester, Massachusetts Category:American jazz pianists Category:Bebop pianists Category:Mainstream jazz pianists Category:Murdered entertainers Category:Post-bop pianists Category:Progressive big band musicians Category:Stride pianists Category:Third Stream pianists Category:New England Conservatory faculty Category:Muse Records artists Category:MPS Records artists Category:Prestige Records artists

Name	Bobby Hebb
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Robert Von Hebb
Born	July 26, 1938Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Died	August 03, 2010Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Instrument	Vocals
Occupation	Singer, songwriter
Years active	1960s–2010
Label	Various

Bobby Hebb (July 26, 1938 – August 3, 2010) was an African American singer and songwriter, best known for his writing and recording of "Sunny".

Biography

He was born Robert Von Hebb in Nashville, Tennessee. Hebb's parents, William and Ovalla Hebb, were both blind musicians. # 12 in the UK, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. When Hebb toured with The Beatles in 1966 his "Sunny" was as well received as any Beatles tune, as evidenced by tapes of the concerts. BMI rated "Sunny" number 25 in its "Top 100 songs of the century".

"Sunny" has been recorded by, among others, Cher, Boney M, Georgie Fame, Johnny Rivers, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra with Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Electric Flag, The Four Seasons, two different versions from Frankie Valli, the Four Tops, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Les McCann, Wes Montgomery, Dusty Springfield, and Classics IV.

References

Cooper, Daniel (1998). "Bobby Hebb". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 235.

External links

Official website

Bobby Hebb interview, Nashville Scene

[ Allmusic biography]

Tuition Records (German label) release of "That's All I Wanna Know"

Category:1938 births Category:2010 deaths Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:American male singers Category:Cancer deaths in Tennessee Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:Musicians from Tennessee Category:People from Nashville, Tennessee Category:Smash Records artists

Name	Billy Taylor
Landscape	yes
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	William Taylor
Born	July 24, 1921
Died	December 28, 2010
Origin	Greenville, North Carolina, U.S.
Instrument	Piano
Genre	Jazz, hard bop
Occupation	Pianist, composer, educator
Years active	1944–2010
Associated acts	Charlie ParkerDizzy GillespieMiles DavisHerbie MannChristian McBrideNancy WilsonDee Dee BridgewaterCyrus Chestnut
Url	BillyTaylorJazz.net

Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Taylor was a also a Jazz activist. He sat on the Honorary Founders Board of The Jazz Foundation of America. In 1989, Billy Taylor, Ann Ruckert, Herb Storfer and Phoebe Jacobs started The Jazz Foundation to save the homes and the lives of America's elderly jazz and blues musicians, later including musicians that survived Hurricane Katrina.

Biography

Early life

Taylor was born in Greenville, North Carolina but moved to Washington, D.C. when he was five. He graduated from Virginia State College with a B.S. in Music in 1942, and later earned a Masters and Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He also served as a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University. During the 1960s, the Billy Taylor Trio was a regular feature of the Hickory House on West 55th street in Manhattan. From 1969 to 1972, Taylor led the band on The David Frost Show; he was the first African American to lead a talk show band. In 1981, Jazzmobile produced a Jazz special for the National Public Radio, and for which the program received the Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting Programs. Jazzmobile's 1990 Tribute Concert to Dr. Taylor at Avery Fisher Hall, part of the JVC Jazz Festival, featured Nancy Wilson, Ahmad Jamal Trio and Terence Blanchard Quintet.

Among his most notable works is "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free", composed in 1954, and subsequently achieving more popularity with Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Nina Simone covered the song in her 1967 album Silk and Soul. It is widely known in the UK as a piano instrumental version, used for BBC1's Film programme, hosted by Barry Norman and subsequently Jonathan Ross. Solomon Burke, Derek Trucks, The Lighthouse Family, Levon Helm and Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra have also recorded versions.

Later career

In 1989, Taylor formed his own "Taylor Made" record label to document his own music, releasing four albums, You Tempt Me (1996) is a strong outing by his 1985 trio (with Victor Gaskin and drummer Curtis Boyd) that includes a rendition of Duke Ellington's "Take the "A" Train". White Nights (1991) has Taylor, Gaskin, and drummer Bobby Thomas performing live from Leningrad in the Soviet Union, then came Solo (1992), and Jazzmobile Allstars (1992).

Taylor remained active with his educational activities and continued to tour and work into his eighties. He continued to work for over 50 years. He visited the White House several times and he received awards from a President and a New York Governor. Taylor received an Emmy award for his work for television which includes carrying out over 250 interviews on behalf of CBS News Sunday Morning. and a host of prestigious and highly coveted prizes, such as the National Medal of Arts (1992), the Tiffany Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Down Beat Magazine. He was also honored in 2001 with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Jazz Living Legend Award, and election to the Hall of Fame for the International Association for Jazz Education.

Discography

As leader

1945: Billy Taylor Piano (Savoy)

1954: Cross-Section

1956: at the London House (ABC-Paramount)

1956: Cross Section (Prestige)

1957: My Fair Lady Loves (GRP)

1959: Warming Up (Riverside)

1959: Billy Uptown (Riverside)

1959: Billy Taylor with Four Flutes (Riverside, with Herbie Mann, Jerome Richardson, Frank Wess)

1962: Impromptu Mercury

1977: Live at Storyville (West 54 Records)

1985: You Tempt Me (Taylor-Made)

1988: White Nights And Jazz In Leningrad (Taylor-Made)

1988: Solo (Taylor-Made)

1989: Billy Taylor And The Jazzmobile All Stars (Taylor-Made)

1991: White Nights and Jazz in Leningrad (Taylor-Made)

1992: Dr. T (GRP) with Gerry Mulligan

1992: Solo (Taylor-Made)

1993: Live at MCG with Gerry Mulligan, Carl Allen, Chip Jackson

1993: Dr. T (GRP)

1997: The Music Keeps Us Young (Arkadia Jazz, with Chip Jackson, Steve Johns)

1998: Ten Fingers - One Voice Arkadia Jazz

1999: Taylor Made at the Kennedy Center with Dee Dee Bridgewater Kennedy Center Jazz

As sideman

With Arkadia Jazz All Stars

Thank You, Duke!

References

External links

Biography

Library of Congress exhibit

Official Website that includes extensive video

Billy Taylor's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project

Category:1921 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American jazz composers Category:American jazz pianists Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Bebop pianists Category:Deaths from heart failure Category:GRP Records artists Category:Hard bop pianists Category:Mainstream jazz pianists Category:Mercury Records artists Category:People from Greenville, North Carolina Category:People from Greenville, North Carolina Category:Prestige Records artists Category:Riverside Records artists Category:Savoy Records artists Category:Savoy Records artists Category:Soul-jazz pianists Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Category:Virginia State University alumni

Name	Bill Evans
Landscape	no
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	William John Evans
Born	August 16, 1929Plainfield, New Jersey, United States
Died	September 15, 1980Fort Lee, New JerseyUnited States
Instrument	Vocals, violin, guitar
Born	August 16, 1929
Died	September 15, 1980
Instrument	Piano
Genre	Jazz, modal jazz, third stream, cool jazz, post-bop
Occupation	PianistComposerArranger
Label	Riverside, Verve, Fantasy
Associated acts	George Russell, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Philly Joe Jones, Scott LaFaro, Paul Motian, Eddie Gomez, Marty Morell, Tony Bennett, Jim Hall

William John Evans, known as Bill Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, John Taylor, Steve Kuhn, Don Friedman, Marian McPartland, Denny Zeitlin, Bobo Stenson, Michel Petrucciani and Keith Jarrett, as well as many other musicians world-wide. The music of Bill Evans continues to inspire younger pianists like Marcin Wasilewski, Fred Hersch, Bill Charlap, Lyle Mays, Eliane Elias and arguably Brad Mehldau, early in his career. He is considered by some to be the most influential post World War II jazz pianist.

Evans is an inductee of the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.

Biography

Early life

Bill Evans was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, United States, to a mother of Rusyn ancestry and a father of Welsh descent. He received his first musical training at his mother's church. Evans's mother was an amateur pianist with an interest in modern classical composers, and Evans began classical piano lessons at age six. He also became a proficient flautist by age 13 and could play the violin.

At age 12, Evans filled in for his older brother Harry in Buddy Valentino's band. He had already been playing dance music (and jazz) at home for some time. In the late 1940s, he played boogie woogie in various New York City clubs. He attended Southeastern Louisiana University on a music scholarship and in 1950 performed Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto on his senior recital there, graduating with a degree in piano performance and teaching. He was also among the founding members of SLU's Delta Omega Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and played quarterback for the fraternity's football team, helping them win the school's 1949 intramural tournament., he had also already developed the ostinato figure from the track "Flamenco Sketches" on the 1958 solo recording "Peace Piece" from his album Everybody Digs Bill Evans. Evans also penned the heralded liner notes for Kind of Blue comparing jazz improvisation to Japanese visual art. By the fall of 1959, he had started his own trio.

1960s

At the turn of the decade, Evans led a trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. This group was to become one of the most acclaimed piano trios—and jazz bands in general—of all time. With this group, Evans's focus settled on traditional jazz standards and original compositions, with an added emphasis on interplay among the band members that often bordered on collective improvisation, blurring the line between soloist and accompanist. The collaboration between Evans and the young LaFaro was particularly fruitful, as the two achieved a remarkable level of musical empathy. The trio recorded four albums: Portrait in Jazz (1959); and Explorations, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, and Waltz for Debby, all recorded in 1961. The last two albums are live recordings from the same recording date, and are routinely named among the greatest jazz recordings of all time. In 2005, the full sets were collected on the three-CD set The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961. There is also a lesser-known recording of this trio, Live at Birdland, taken from radio broadcasts in early 1960, though the sound quality is poor.

In addition to introducing a new freedom of interplay within the piano trio, Evans began (in performances such as "My Foolish Heart" from the Vanguard sessions) to explore extremely slow ballad tempos and quiet volume levels, which had been virtually unknown in jazz. His chordal voicings became more impressionistic, reminiscent of classical composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin, and Satie, and he moved away from the thick block chords he had often used with Davis. His sparse left-hand voicings supported his lyrical right-hand lines, reflecting the influence of jazz pianist Bud Powell.

Like Davis, Evans was a pioneer of modal jazz, favoring harmonies that helped avoid some of the idioms of bebop and other earlier jazz. In tunes like Time Remembered, the chord changes more or less absorbed the derivative styles of bebop and instead relied on unexpected shifts in color. It was still possible (and desirable) to make these changes swing, and a certain spontaneity appeared in expert solos that were played over the new sound. Most composers refer to the style of Time Remembered as "plateau modal," because of its frequent juxtaposition of harmony.

LaFaro's death at age 25 in a car accident, ten days after the Vanguard performances, devastated Evans. He did not record or perform in public again for several months. His first recording after LaFaro's death was the duet album Undercurrent, with guitarist Jim Hall, released on United Artist Jazz records in 1963. Recorded in two sessions on April 24 and May 14, 1962, it is now widely regarded as a classic jazz piano-guitar duet recording. The album is also notable for its striking cover image, "Weeki Wachee Spring, Florida" by photographer Toni Frissell. The original LP and the first CD reissue featured a cropped, blue-tinted version, overlaid with the title and the Blue Note logo; but for the most recent (24-bit remastered) CD reissue, the image has been restored to its original black-and-white coloration and size, without lettering.

When he re-formed his trio in 1962, Evans replaced LaFaro with bassist Chuck Israels, initially keeping Motian on the drums. Two albums, Moonbeams and How My Heart Sings!, resulted. In 1963, after having switched from Riverside to the much more widely distributed Verve, he recorded Conversations With Myself, an innovative album on which he employed overdubbing, layering up to three individual tracks of piano for each song. The album won him his first Grammy award, for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance — Soloist or Small Group.

Though his time with Verve was prolific in terms of recording, his artistic output was uneven. Despite Israels's fast development and the creativity of new drummer Grady Tate, they were ill-represented by the rather perfunctory album Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra, with the piece Pavane by Gabriel Fauré remarkably reinvented with improvisations by Evans. Some unique contexts were attempted, such as a big-band live album at Town Hall, recorded but never issued due to Evans's dissatisfaction with it (although the jazz trio portion of the Pavane concert was made into its own somewhat successful release), and an album with a symphony orchestra, not warmly received by critics.

During this time, Helen Keane, Evans's manager, began having an important influence. One of the first women in her field, she significantly helped to maintain the progress (or prevent the deterioration) of Evans's career in spite of his self-destructive lifestyle.

In 1966, Evans discovered the remarkable young Puerto Rican bass player Eddie Gomez. In what turned out to be an eleven-year stay, the sensitive and creative Gomez sparked new developments in both Evans's playing and his trio conception. One of the most significant releases during this period is Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival, from 1968. Although it was the only album Evans made with drummer Jack DeJohnette, it has remained a critical and fan favorite, due to the trio's remarkable energy and interplay.

Other highlights from this period include "Solo—In Memory of His Father" from Bill Evans at Town Hall (1966), which introduced the famous theme "Turn Out the Stars," a second successful pairing with guitarist Jim Hall; Intermodulation (1966); and the subdued, crystalline solo album Alone (1968), featuring a 14-minute-plus version of "Never Let Me Go."

1970s

In 1968, Marty Morell joined the trio on drums and remained until 1975, when he retired to family life. This was Evans's most stable, longest-lasting group. Evans had kicked his heroin habit and was entering a period of personal stability as well. The group made several albums, including From Left to Right (1970), which features Evans's first use of electric piano; The Bill Evans Album (1971), which won two Grammies; The Tokyo Concert (1973); Since We Met (1974); and But Beautiful (1974), featuring the trio plus legendary tenor saxophonist Stan Getz in live performances from Holland and Belgium, released posthumously in 1996. Morell was an energetic, straight-ahead drummer, unlike many of the trio's former percussionists, and many critics feel that this was a period of little growth for Evans. After Morell left, Evans and Gomez recorded two duo albums, Intuition and Montreux III.

In 1974, Bill Evans recorded a multimovement jazz concerto specifically written for him by Claus Ogerman entitled Symbiosis, originally released on the MPS Records label. The 1970s also saw Evans collaborate with the singer Tony Bennett on 1975's The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album and 1977's Together Again.

On September 13, 1975, Evans's son, Evan, was born. Evan Evans did not often see his always-touring father. A child prodigy, he embarked on a career in film scoring, ambitiously attending college courses in 20th-century composition, instrumentation, and electronic composition at the age of ten. He also studied with many of his father's contemporaries, including Lalo Schifrin and harmony specialist Bernard Maury.

In 1976, Marty Morell was replaced on drums by Eliot Zigmund. Several interesting collaborations followed, and it was not until 1977 that the trio was able to record an album together. Both I Will Say Goodbye (Evans's last album for Fantasy Records) and You Must Believe in Spring (for Warner Bros., released posthumously) highlighted changes that would become significant in the last stage of Evans's career. A greater emphasis was placed on group improvisation and interaction, Evans was reaching new expressive heights in his soloing, and new experiments with harmony and keys were attempted.

Gomez and Zigmund left Evans in 1978. Evans then asked Philly Joe Jones, the drummer he considered his "all-time favorite drummer" and with whom he had recorded his second album in 1957, to fill in. Several bassists were tried, with the remarkable Michael Moore staying the longest. Evans finally settled on Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. This trio was Evans's last. Although they released only one record before Evans's death in 1980 (The Paris Concert, Edition One and Edition Two, 1979), they rivaled (and arguably exceeded) the first trio in their powerful group interactions. Evans stated that this was possibly his best trio, a claim supported by the many recordings that have since surfaced, each documenting the remarkable musical journey of his final year. The Debussylike impressionism of the first trio had given way to a dark and urgent yet undeniably compelling, deeply moving (if not mesmerizing) romantic expressionism.

Evans's Rusyn ancestry is sometimes confused with a "Russian" ethnic background. His music reflects Russian titans like the Rachmaninoffesque pianism of his brooding constructions and the Shostakovich-like "Danse Macabre" modal explorations of "Nardis", the piece he reworked each time it served as the finale of his performances. But the "anticipatory meter" that Evans deliberately perfected with his last trio reflects late Ravel, especially the controversial second half of the French composer's dark and turbulent La Valse. The recording documenting Evans's playing during the week preceding his death is the valedictory "The Last Waltz." Many albums and compilations have been released in recent years, including three multidisc boxed sets: Turn Out the Stars (Warner Bros.), The Last Waltz, and Consecration. The Warner Bros. set is a selection of material from Evans's final residency at New York's Village Vanguard club, nearly two decades after his classic performances there with the La Faro/Motian trio; the other two are drawn from his performances at San Francisco's Keystone Korner the week before his death. A particularly revealing comparison of early and late Evans (1966, 1980) is a 2007 DVD of two previously unreleased telecasts, The Oslo Concerts.

Death

Evans's drug addiction most likely began during his stint with Miles Davis in the late 1950s. A heroin addict for much of his career, his health was generally poor, and his financial situation worse, for most of the 1960s. By the end of that decade, he appeared to have succeeded in overcoming his addiction to heroin. However, during the 1970s, cocaine use became a serious and ultimately fatal problem for Evans. His body finally gave out in September 1980, when—ravaged by psychoactive drugs, a perforated liver, and a lifelong battle with hepatitis—he died in New York City of a bleeding ulcer, cirrhosis of the liver, and bronchial pneumonia. Evans's friend Gene Lees bleakly summarized Evans's struggle with drugs to Peter Pettinger as "the longest suicide in history". Bill Evans's musicianship has been a model for many pianists in various genres. His music displayed a creative mastery of harmony, rhythm, and interpretive jazz conception, fusing elements from jazz, classical, and ethnic music. In his duos and trios, Evans developed in unprecedented ways a unique conception of ensemble performance and a classical sense of form and conceptual scale. His '60s recordings Conversations with Myself and Further Conversations with Myself were innovative solo performances involving multiple layers of overdubs recorded in the studio by Evans himself.

Evans's work continues to influence pianists, guitarists, composers, and interpreters of jazz music around the world. Many of his tunes, such as "Waltz for Debby", "Turn Out the Stars," "Very Early," and "Funkallero," have become often-recorded jazz standards. Many tribute recordings featuring his compositions and favorite tunes have been released in the years following his passing (see below) as well as tribute compositions. Pat Metheny's "September 15th" is one such recording. During his lifetime, Evans was honored with 31 Grammy nominations and seven Awards. In 1994, he was posthumously honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tribute albums

1981: Elegy For Bill Evans by Richie Beirach

1986: Music of Bill Evans by the Kronos Quartet with Eddie Gomez and Jim Hall.

1990: Bill Evans by Paul Motian

1991: Bill Evans: A Tribute by Jimmy Rowles, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, John Lewis, and Dave McKenna (Palo Alto Records)

1992: Then Along Came Bill: A Tribute to Bill Evans by Sylvia Syms

1993: Time Remembered: John Mclaughlin Plays Bill Evans by John Mclaughlin

1994: Now & Then: A Tribute to Bill Evans by Mitchel Forman

1994: Your Story: The Music of Bill Evans by Howard Alden

1996: Turn Out The Stars - The Songs Of Bill Evans by Dominic Alldis

1997: Conversations with Bill Evans by Jean-Yves Thibaudet

1998: Evanessence: Tribute to Bill Evans by Fred Hersch

1998: I Remember Bill: A Tribute to Bill Evans by Don Sebesky and Larry Coryell

2000: Conviction: Thoughts Of Bill Evans by Roseanna Vitro

2000: Remembering Bill Evans - A Vocal Tribute by Karen Gallinger

2002: Homage To Bill Evans And Jim Hall by Luigi Tessarollo with Stefano Bollani

2002: Play Bill Evans by The Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra & Jim McNeely

2003: Bill Evans: Tribute to the Great Post-Bop Pianist by Paul Motian

2006: Paz - Niño Josele and the music of Bill Evans by Niño Josele

2006: Remembering the Rain: The Music of Bill Evans by Stephen D. Anderson

2007: Playsong - The Music Of Bill Evans by Hilde Hefte

2008: Bill Evans Project by Riccardo Fioravanti Trio

2008: Something for you - Eliane Elias Sings and Plays Bill Evans by Eliane Elias

2008: We Sing Bill Evans by Joan Diaz Trio

2009: Bill Evans Compositions Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 by Stefano Battaglia

Discography

References

Further reading

*

External links

billevans.net Detailed Discography

Bill Evans entry — Jazz Discography Project

The Bill Evans Webpages

Bill Evans: Time Remembered

The Work of Claus Ogerman — Bill Evans' work with composer/arranger/conductor Claus Ogerman is documented here in a pictorial discography of original albums and compilations, many with explanatory liner notes.

"Remembering Bill Evans" by Ted Gioia, Jazz.com, January, 2008.

Letter From Evans edited by Win Hinkle — newsletter dedicated solely to the music and the life of Bill Evans, published 1989–94. Link is to all issues.

"Bill Evans: Twelve Essential Recordings by Ted Gioia"

Bill Evans A Complete Blog Discography Project

The Bill Evans Memorial Library

Category:Third Stream pianists Category:1929 births Category:1980 deaths Category:Post-bop pianists Category:American jazz pianists Category:Deaths from cirrhosis Category:Cool jazz pianists Category:Hard bop pianists Category:Jazz bandleaders Category:Jazz composers Category:Miles Davis Category:Musicians from New Jersey Category:People from Fort Lee, New Jersey Category:People from North Plainfield, New Jersey Category:People from Plainfield, New Jersey Category:American people of Welsh descent Category:American people of Rusyn descent Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Verve Records artists Category:Riverside Records artists Category:Milestone Records artists Category:Concord Records artists Category:Fantasy Records artists Category:Warner Bros. Records artists

Name	Ayako Shirasaki
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Born	Tokyo, Japan
Origin	Tokyo, Japan
Instrument	Piano
Genre	Jazz, bebop, Mainstream jazz, Swing music
Occupation	PianistComposer
Years active	1990 — present
Label	What's New Records (2003-2008)Jan Matthies Records (2009—present)
Url	AyakoShirasaki.com

is a Japanese jazz pianist and composer living in Brooklyn, New York. She began her professional career at the age of twelve by playing gigs at the "J" jazz club in Tokyo. She was featured in Swing Journal. Shirasaki took classical music as her major at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and gave concerts as a classical pianist for several years after graduating before returning to play jazz. "Musically Yours" her second CD was released in June, 2005. Before giving birth to her two children, Ayako’s solo piano album "Home Alone" was released in April 2006. In the same year she has been featured on Marian McPartland's National Public Radio Show Piano Jazz.

She was a finalist in the Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Piano Competition in 2005 and 2006 and the Great American Jazz Piano Competition in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

After her parental leave she continued her career with a performance at the 1st International Jazz Solo Piano Festival 2009 in Germany. In 2010 she performed at the Jazz Journalists Association Awards Gala.

2003 - Existence

2005 - Musically Yours

2006 - Home Alone

2010 - Falling Leaves - Live in Hamburg

Compilations

2006 - An NPR Christmas Collection with Marian McPartland and Friends

2006 - NPR Jazz Christmas With Marian McPartland and Friends III

2009 - Best of 1st International Jazz Solo Piano Festival 2009

References

External links

Ayako Shirasaki at AllAboutJazz

mp3 file for the pronunciation of the name Ayako Shirasaki

Category:Bebop pianists Category:Mainstream jazz pianists Category:Japanese jazz pianists Category:Women in jazz Category:Swing pianists Category:Japanese jazz composers Category:Women composers Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

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

Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. (October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso. He was nearly blind.

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."

Life and career

For a musician of such stature, there is very little published information available about Tatum's life. Only one full-length biography of Tatum has been published, Too Marvelous for Words, by James Lester. Lester interviewed many Tatum contemporaries for the book and drew from many articles published about Tatum.

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.

Style

Tatum built upon stride and classical piano influences to develop a novel and unique piano style. He introduced a strong, swinging pulse to jazz piano, highlighted with spectacular cadenzas that swept across the entire keyboard. His interpretations of popular songs were exuberant, sophisticated, grandiose and intricate. He sometimes improvised lines that presaged bebop and later jazz genres but generally he did not venture far from the original melodic lines of songs. Jazz soloing in the 1930s had not yet evolved into the free-ranging extended improvisations that flowered in the bebop era of the 1940s and 1950s and beyond. But Tatum embellished those melodic lines with an array of signature devices and runs that appeared throughout his repertoire. As he matured, Tatum became more adventurous in abandoning the melodies and elongating those improvisations.

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.

Technique

Critic Gunther Schuller declared "On one point there is universal agreement: Tatum's awesome technique." That technique was marked by a calm physical demeanor and efficiency. He did not indulge in theatrical physical or facial expression. The effortless gliding of his hands over difficult passages puzzled most who witnessed the phenomenon. He especially mystified other pianists to whom Tatum appeared to be "playing the impossible." Even when playing scintillating runs at high velocity, it appeared that his fingers hardly moved. Using self-taught fingering, including an array of two-fingered runs, he executed the pyrotechnics with meticulous accuracy and timing. His execution was all the more remarkable considering that he drank prodigious amounts of alcohol when performing, Around 1950 when Bud Powell was opening for Tatum at Birdland, Powell reportedly said to Tatum: "Man, I'm going to really show you about tempo and playing fast. Anytime you're ready." Tatum laughed and replied: "Look, you come in here tomorrow, and anything you do with your right hand, I'll do with my left." Powell never took up the challenge.

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.

After hours

, May 1948]] After regular club dates, Tatum would decamp to after-hours clubs to hang out with other musicians who would play for each other. Biographer James Lester notes that Tatum enjoyed listening to other pianists and preferred to play last when several pianists played. He frequently played for hours on end into the dawn, to the detriment of his marriages.

Group work

Tatum tended to work and to record unaccompanied, partly because relatively few musicians could keep pace with his fast tempos and advanced harmonic vocabulary. Other musicians expressed amazed bewilderment at performing with Tatum. Drummer Jo Jones, who recorded a 1956 trio session with Tatum and bassist Red Callender is quoted as quipping, "I didn't even play on that session [...] all I did was listen. I mean, what could I add? [...] I felt like setting my damn drums on fire." Buddy DeFranco said that playing with Tatum was "like chasing a train."

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.

Repertoire

Tatum's repertoire consisted mainly of music from the Great American Songbook — Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and other popular music of the 20's, 30's and 40's. He played his own arrangements of a few classical piano pieces as well, most famously Dvořák's Humoresque no. 7. Although Tatum was not known as a composer, his versions of popular numbers were so original as to border on composition.

Emulators

Mainstream jazz piano has gone in a different direction than that pioneered by Tatum. Nevertheless, transcriptions of Tatum are popular and are often practiced assiduously. But perhaps because his playing was so difficult to copy, only a handful of musicians — such as Oscar Peterson, Johnny Costa, Johnny Guarnieri, Adam Makowicz, Luther G. Williams, Steven Mayer and Christopher Jordan — have attempted to seriously emulate or challenge Tatum. Although Bud Powell was of the bebop movement, his prolific and exciting style showed Tatum influence.

Recordings

Tatum recorded commercially from 1932 until near his death. Although recording opportunities were somewhat intermittent for most of his career due to his solo style, he left copious recordings. He recorded for Decca (1934–41), Capitol (1949, 1952) and for the labels associated with Norman Granz (1953–56). Tatum demonstrated remarkable memory when he recorded 68 solo tracks for Norman Granz in two days, all but three of the tracks in one take. He also recorded a series of group recordings for Granz with, among others, Ben Webster, Jo Jones, Buddy DeFranco, Benny Carter, Harry Sweets Edison, Roy Eldridge and Lionel Hampton.

Film

Although only a small amount of film showing Tatum playing exists today, several minutes of professionally-shot archival footage can be found in Martin Scorsese's documentary The Blues. Footage also appears in Ken Burns' documentary Jazz, which includes a short passage on Tatum's life and work, including comments from Jimmy Rowles and Gary Giddins. Tatum appeared in the 1947 movie The Fabulous Dorseys, first playing a solo and then accompanying Dorsey's band in an impromptu song.

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.

Death

Art Tatum died at Queen of Angels Medical Center in Los Angeles, California from the complications of uremia (as a result of kidney failure). He was originally interred at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, but was moved to the Great Mausoleum of Glendale's Forest Lawn Cemetery in 1991. He was survived by his wife, Geraldine Tatum. Geraldine died on May 4, 2010 in Los Angeles, and was interred beside Art at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Legacy and tributes

Tatum posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989.

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.

Discography

Footnotes to Jazz, Vol. 2: Jazz Rehearsal, II- Art Tatum Trio, Folkways Records, 1952

Makin' Whoopee, Verve, 1954

The Greatest Piano Hits of Them All, Verve, 1954

Genius Of Keyboard 1954–56, Giants Of Jazz

Still More of the Greatest Piano Hits of Them All, Verve, 1955

More of the Greatest Piano Hits of All Time, Verve, 1955

The Art Tatum-Ben Webster Quartet, Verve, 1956, reissued as The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Volume Eight, Pablo, 1975

The Essential Art Tatum, Verve, 1956

Capitol Jazz Classics - Volume 3 Solo Piano, Capitol M-11028, 1972

Masterpieces, Leonard Feather Series MCA2-4019, MCA, 1973

God is in the House , Onyx, 1973 [re-released on High Note, 1998]

Piano Starts Here, Columbia, 1987

The Complete Capitol Recordings, Vol. 1, Capitol, 1989

The Complete Capitol Recordings, Vol. 2, Capitol, 1989

Solos 1940, Decca/MCA, 1989

The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 6, Pablo, 1990

The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 7, Pablo, 1990

The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 4, Pablo, 1990

The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 2, Pablo, 1990

The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 3, Pablo, 1990

The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 1, Pablo, 1990

Art Tatum at His Piano, Vol. 1, Crescendo, 1990

The Complete Pablo Group Masterpieces, Pablo, 1990

Classic Early Solos (1934–37), Decca Records, 1991

The Complete Pablo Solo Masterpieces, Pablo, 1991

The Best of Art Tatum, Pablo, 1992

Standards, Black Lion, 1992

The V-Discs, Black Lion, 1992

The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 1, Pablo, 1992

The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 2, Pablo, 1992

The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 3, Pablo, 1992

The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 4, Pablo, 1992

The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 5, Pablo, 1992

The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 6, Pablo, 1992

The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 7, Pablo, 1992

The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 8, Pablo, 1992

I Got Rhythm: Art Tatum, Vol. 3 (1935–44), Decca Records, 1993

Fine Art & Dandy, Drive Archive, 1994

The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 2, Pablo, 1994

Marvelous Art, Star Line Records, 1994

House Party, Star Line Records, 1994

Masters of Jazz, Vol. 8, Storyville (Denmark), 1994

California Melodies, Memphis Archives, 1994

1934–40, Jazz Chronological Classics, 1994

1932–44 (3 CD Box Set), Jazz Chronological Classics, 1995

The Rococo Piano of Art Tatum, Pearl Flapper, 1995

I Know That You Know, Jazz Club Records, 1995

Piano Solo Private Sessions October 1952, New York, Musidisc (France), 1995

The Art of Tatum, ASV Living Era, 1995

Trio Days, Le Jazz, 1995

1933–44, Best of Jazz (France), 1995

1940–44, Jazz Chronological Classics, 1995

Vol. 16-Masterpieces, Jazz Archives Masterpieces, 1996

20th Century Piano Genius (20th Century/Verve, 1996

Body & Soul,Jazz Hour (Netherlands), 1996

Solos (1937) and Classic Piano, Forlane, 1996

Complete Capitol Recordings, Blue Note, 1997

Memories Of You (3 CD Set) Black Lion, 1997

On The Sunny Side Topaz Jazz, 1997

1944, Giants Of Jazz, 1998

Standard Sessions (2 CD Set), Music & Arts, 1996 & 2002/Storyville 1999

Piano Starts Here - Live at The Shrine (Zenph Re-Performance), Sony BMG Masterworks, 2008

Art Tatum - Ben Webster: The Album (Essential Jazz Classics) 2009

Notes

References

Jed Distler (1981/1986) Art Tatum: Jazz Masters Series: intro and notes to Tatum Piano Transcriptions: Amsco Publications: ISBN 0-8256-4085-7

James Lester (1994) Too Marvelous for Words: The Life and Genius of Art Tatum, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-509640-1

Gunther Schuller (1989) The Swing Era - The Development of Jazz 1930-1945, "Art Tatum" p 476-502, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-507140-5

Riccardo Scivales (1998) The Right Hand According to Tatum, Ekay Music, Inc. ISBN 0943748852

External links

Art Tatum African American Resource Center

JAZZ (Ken Burns) Artist Biography: Art Tatum

NPR Jazz Profiles: Art Tatum

NPR Music Artist Profile: 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