Art Tatum

Friday, 02 November 2012

Art Tatum : Art's Blues ( 1947 ) ( Fabulous Dorseys )

Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson comparison, comments.

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Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall in New York City, and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.
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Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 large professional theatres with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan, New York City.Although theater is the preferred spelling in the U.S.A. (see further at American and British English Spelling Differences), the majority of venues, performers, and trade groups for live dramatic presentations use the spelling theatre. Along with London's West End theatre, Broadway theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world.
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Chicago
Chicago ( or ) is the largest city in the state of Illinois. With over 2.8 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous city in the country. Its metropolitan area, commonly named "Chicagoland," is the 26th most populous in the world, home to an estimated 9.7 million people spread across the U.S. states of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County.
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Detroit
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Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; , Spanish for "The Angels") is the second most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of California and the western United States, with a population of 3.83 million within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Los Angeles extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of over 14.8 million and it is the 14th largest urban area in the world, affording it megacity status. The metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is home to nearly 12.9 million residents while the broader Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside combined statistical area (CSA) contains nearly 17.8 million people. Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most multicultural counties in the United States. The city's inhabitants are referred to as "Angelenos" ().
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New York
New York (; locally or ) is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border with Rhode Island east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Ontario to the north and west, and Quebec to the north. New York is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City.
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Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City-centered music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
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Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. The municipality is located in northwest Ohio on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan. The city was founded in 1833 on the west bank of the Maumee River, originally incorporated as part of Monroe County, Michigan Territory; then re-founded in 1837, after conclusion of theToledo War, when it was incorporated in Ohio. Toledo grew quickly as a result of the Miami and Erie Canal and its position on the railway line between New York and Chicago. It has since become a city well known for its industry, particularly in glass and auto assembly (Jeep headquarters and related auto parts production), as well as for its art community, education, and local sports teams.
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United States
The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
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Adam Makowicz
http://wn.com/Adam_Makowicz
Adelaide Hall
Adelaide Hall (20 October 1901 – 7 November 1993) was an American born British based jazz singer and entertainer.
http://wn.com/Adelaide_Hall
Ambrose (bandleader)
http://wn.com/Ambrose_(bandleader)
Antonín Dvořák
http://wn.com/Antonín_Dvořák
Art Tatum
http://wn.com/Art_Tatum
Arthur Rubinstein
http://wn.com/Arthur_Rubinstein
Ben Webster
http://wn.com/Ben_Webster
Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King. In 1958, he performed with Billie Holiday at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival.
http://wn.com/Benny_Carter
Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner (born Joseph Vernon Turner Jr., May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and Roll", Turner's career as a performer stretched from the 1920s into the 1980s.
http://wn.com/Big_Joe_Turner
Bill Evans
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.
http://wn.com/Bill_Evans
Billie Holiday
http://wn.com/Billie_Holiday
Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor (born July 24, 1921 in Greenville, North Carolina) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. He is currently the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville. Since 1994, he has been the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
http://wn.com/Billy_Taylor
Bud Powell
Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk. Along with Monk, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Powell was a key player in the history of bebop, and his virtuosity as a pianist led many to call him "the Charlie Parker of the piano".
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Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.
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Charlie Parker
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Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (born June 12, 1941) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist and composer.
http://wn.com/Chick_Corea
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years. Many notable musicians came to prominence under his direction, including tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams. Basie's theme songs were "One O'Clock Jump" and "April In Paris".
http://wn.com/Count_Basie
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck (born December 6, 1920) is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. His music is known for employing unusual time signatures, and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities.
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Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer.
http://wn.com/Dizzy_Gillespie
Donald Lambert
Donald "The Lamb" Lambert (12 February 1904 - 8 May 1962) was an American jazz stride pianist born in Princeton, New Jersey, perhaps best-known for playing in Harlem night clubs throughout the 1920s. Lambert was taught piano by his mother but never learned to read the notes. For his particularly rapid left hand striding technique, he was a formidable opponent in cutting contests. Lambert is also notorious for an occasion on which he challenged Art Tatum at a jazz concert where other famous players were present. Lambert's discography is very sparse: the only commercial recordings under his name were four titles made for RCA's Bluebird label in 1941, in which he interpreted classical themes: Richard Wagner's Pilgrim's Chorus from Tannhauser, Anitra's Dance by Edvard Grieg, Gaetano Donizetti's Sextet from Lucia di Lammermoor and Jules Massenet's Elegie. However, several compilations were released in the 1980s containing live recordings dating from 1959-62. Lambert appeared at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival alongside Eubie Blake and Willie 'the Lion' Smith, and was said to have outplayed both of them. His nicknames included the "Jersey Rocket", "The Lamb", "Muffin" and "The lamb of God".
http://wn.com/Donald_Lambert
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was a composer, pianist, and big band leader.
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington
Earl Hines
Earl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983) was "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".
http://wn.com/Earl_Hines
Eddie Barefield
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Fats Waller
http://wn.com/Fats_Waller
Gary Giddins
Gary Giddins (born March 21, 1948) is an American jazz critic, author, and director, best known for his longtime work with The Village Voice. Born in Brooklyn, and raised on Long Island, Giddins graduated from Grinnell College, Iowa, in 1970. After some freelance work as a music and film critic, in 1974 he started writing his column "Weather Bird" for the Village Voice, which he ended in December 2003.
http://wn.com/Gary_Giddins
George Gershwin
http://wn.com/George_Gershwin
Gordon Goodwin
Gordon L. Goodwin (born 1954) is a Grammy award-winning American studio pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger and conductor. He now lives in Southern California with his wife Lisa, daughter Madison and two sons, Trevor and Garrison.
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Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller (born November 22, 1925) is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.
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Hank Jones
Henry "Hank" Jones (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award. He was also honored in 2003 with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) Jazz Living Legend Award. In 2008, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. On April 13, 2009, the University of Hartford presented Jones with a Doctorate Degree for his musical accomplishments.
http://wn.com/Hank_Jones
Harold Mabern
Harold Mabern (born March 20, 1936 in Memphis, Tennessee) is a hard bop and soul jazz pianist.
http://wn.com/Harold_Mabern
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock (born April 12, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet", Hancock helped redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section, and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound. He was one of the first jazz musicians to embrace synthesizers and funk. Hancock's music is often melodic and accessible; he has had many songs "cross over" and achieved success among pop audiences. His music embraces elements of funk and soul while adopting freer stylistic elements from jazz. In his jazz improvisation, he possesses a unique creative blend of jazz, blues, and modern classical music, with harmonic stylings much like the styles of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.
http://wn.com/Herbie_Hancock
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor of stage and screen, well known for his deep basso voice. To modern audiences, he is known for providing the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and the tagline for CNN.
http://wn.com/James_Earl_Jones
James P. Johnson
James P. Johnson [also known as Jimmy Johnson] (February 1, 1894–November 17, 1955) was an American pianist and composer. With Luckey Roberts, Johnson was arguably the most important pioneer of the stride style of jazz piano playing.
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Jean Cocteau
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Jerry Garcia
http://wn.com/Jerry_Garcia
Jimmy Rowles
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Jo Jones
:For other persons named Jonathan Jones, see Jonathan Jones
http://wn.com/Jo_Jones
Johnny Guarnieri
Johnny Guarnieri (23 March 1917–7 January 1985) was an American virtuoso jazz and stride pianist, born in New York City, perhaps best-known for his big band stints with Benny Goodman in 1939 and with Artie Shaw in 1940. Guarnieri is also noted for his embellishment and juxtaposition of jazz with classical piano, such as Scarlatti and Beethoven.
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Jon Hendricks
:For the television executive, see John Hendricks
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Keith Jarret
http://wn.com/Keith_Jarret
Ken Burns
Kenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American director and producer of documentary films known for his style of making use of archival footage and photographs. Among his most notable productions are The Civil War (1990), Baseball (1994), Jazz (2001), The War (2007), and (2009).
http://wn.com/Ken_Burns
Kenny Barron
Kenny Barron (born June 9, 1943 in Philadelphia), is an American jazz pianist. He is the younger brother of tenor saxophonist Bill Barron, and known for his lyrical, adaptive style.
http://wn.com/Kenny_Barron
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein (, ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim. He was probably best known to the public as the longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic, for conducting concerts by many of the world's leading orchestras, and for writing the music for West Side Story, Candide, Wonderful Town, and On the Town. Bernstein was the first classical music conductor to make numerous television appearances between 1954 and 1989. He had a formidable piano technique and as a composer also wrote symphonies and other concert music. According to The New York Times, he was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history."
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Leonard Feather
Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914–22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing.
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Leopold Godowsky
Leopold Godowsky (February 13, 1870November 21, 1938) was a famed Polish-American pianist, composer, and teacher. He has been described as "a pianist for pianists".
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Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy Rich to Charlie Parker and Quincy Jones. In 1992, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.
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Louis Armstrong
http://wn.com/Louis_Armstrong
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese (; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. He is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation and a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema, and has won awards from the Oscars, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Directors Guild of America. Scorsese is president of The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation.
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Mulgrew Miller
Mulgrew Miller is an American jazz pianist born in 1955 in Greenwood, Mississippi who performs in a number of jazz idioms. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql;=11:aifexqtgld6e~T1 Allmusic]
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Norman Granz
http://wn.com/Norman_Granz
Oscar Peterson
http://wn.com/Oscar_Peterson
Ray (film)
Ray is a 2004 biographical film focusing on 30 years of the life of rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles. The independently produced film was directed by Taylor Hackford and starred Jamie Foxx in the title role; Foxx received an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.
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Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930June 10, 2004), better known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. Ray was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm & blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company.
http://wn.com/Ray_Charles
Ray Heindorf
Ray Heindorf (August 25, 1908 - February 2, 1980) was an American songwriter, composer, conductor, and arranger.
http://wn.com/Ray_Heindorf
Roy Eldridge
Roy David Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz" was an American jazz trumpet player. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos and his strong influence on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most exciting musicians of the swing era and a precursor of bebop.
http://wn.com/Roy_Eldridge
Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow (born 4 October 1954 in New York) is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.
http://wn.com/Scott_Yanow
Sergei Rachmaninoff
http://wn.com/Sergei_Rachmaninoff
Slam Stewart
Leroy Eliot "Slam" Stewart (September 21, 1914December 10, 1987) was an African American jazz bass player whose trademark style was his ability to bow the bass (arco) and simultaneously hum or sing an octave higher. He was originally a violin player before switching to bass at the age of 20.
http://wn.com/Slam_Stewart
Steve Allen
Stephen Valentine Patrick William "Steve" Allen ( – ) was an American television personality, musician, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best-known for his television career. He first gained national attention as a guest host on ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. He graduated to become the first host of The Tonight Show, where he was instrumental in innovating the concept of the television talk show. Thereafter, he hosted numerous game and variety shows, including The Steve Allen Show, I've Got a Secret, The New Steve Allen Show'', and was a regular panel member on CBS' ''What's My Line?''
http://wn.com/Steve_Allen
Sweets Edison
http://wn.com/Sweets_Edison
Teddy Wilson
Theodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist whose sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. He is considered one of the most influential jazz pianists of all time.
http://wn.com/Teddy_Wilson
Thelonious Monk
http://wn.com/Thelonious_Monk
Tiny Grimes
Lloyd "Tiny" Grimes (July 7, 1916 - March 4, 1989) was an American jazz and R&B; guitarist. He was a member of the Art Tatum Trio from 1943 to 1944, was a backing musician on recording sessions, and later led his own bands, including a recording session with Charlie Parker. He is notable for playing the tenor guitar, a four-stringed electric instrument.
http://wn.com/Tiny_Grimes
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz (; ) (October 1, 1903 – November 5, 1989) was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were and remain legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.
http://wn.com/Vladimir_Horowitz
Yuja Wang
Yuja Wang (; born February 10, 1987) is a Chinese classical pianist. She was born in Beijing, began studying piano there at age six, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
http://wn.com/Yuja_Wang

Art Tatum -- Yesterdays

Pianist extraordinaire Art Tatum performs "Yesterdays".. composed by Jerome David Kern and...

published: 06 Sep 2008

author: eccentricXXX

Art Tatum plays Dvorak

Rare footage of Art Tatum playing his rendition of Humoresque by Dvorak...

published: 04 Jun 2006

author: steveie986

Art Tatum - The Art Of Jazz Piano

The only documentary portrait of the greatest jazz pianist ever. Includes rare photographs...

published: 28 Aug 2011

author: MVDmusicvideo

Art Tatum plays Tea for Two

Of all Tatum's recordings, this is probably my favorite. I think it's by far his best vers...

published: 30 Dec 2007

author: credman

Elegy - Art Tatum

The Greatest Piano Solo of all time...

published: 10 Dec 2006

author: helmut4lyfe

Art Tatum Documentary

One of the greatest piano players of the 20th Century Jazz and considered by some as the g...

published: 30 Jul 2011

author: barun432

Art Tatum -- Someone to Watch Over Me

Art Tatum performs "Someone to Watch Over Me" written by George Gershwin....

published: 28 Nov 2007

author: eccentricXXX

Art Tatum's Tea for Two (1933)

This is Art Tatum's flawless recording of Tea for Two, recorded in 1933, which was the ver...

published: 08 Apr 2009

author: CBasie2856

Over the Rainbow (1953) by Art Tatum

From the album, "Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces Vol. 6", Pablo....

published: 15 Apr 2010

author: bluesinorbit

Art Tatum- Humouresque

Art Tatum- a God amongst men...

published: 23 Jul 2006

author: chelle8506

Art Tatum : Art's Blues ( 1947 ) ( Fabulous Dorseys )

Jam Session From The 1947Film "Fabulous Dorseys" Art Tatum : Piano Tommy Dorsey : Trombone...

published: 20 Feb 2008

author: george corneliussen

Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson comparison, comments.

Jazz Video...

published: 28 Nov 2008

author: dansgirls3

Art Tatum´s lessons (neighbor tone devices in Db)

Art Tatum´s music explained by Dick Hyman...

published: 19 May 2006

author: Matías González

Thomas Fats Waller & Art Tatum

Clip of Thomas Fats Waller (1941) & Art Tatum (1943...

published: 31 May 2007

author: Pibbs1

"Wedding Day" - A Wedding Video...RAP

http://www.lifestagefilms.com "One of the top 25 Event Filmmakers on the Planet" - EventDV...

published: 26 Sep 2011

author: Life Stage Films

Art Tatum's Tiger Rag

from wikipedia: Tatum drew inspiration from his contemporaries James P. Johnson and Fats W...

published: 19 Sep 2008

author: Foundring

The Art Tatum Centennial Celebration

http://bit.ly/tatumcentennial - It is no stretch to state that Art Tatum was the jazz worl...

published: 25 Sep 2009

author: Concord Music Group

Art Tatum's Body & Soul

one of many of Tatum's versions of this classic tune. this is the most recent and my perso...

published: 19 Sep 2008

author: Foundring

Art Tatum : Art's Blues ( 1947 ) ( Fabulous Dorseys )

Jam Session From The 1947Film "Fabulous Dorseys" Art Tatum : Piano Tommy Dorsey ...

published: 20 Feb 2008

author: george corneliussen

Art Tatum -- Yesterdays

Pianist extraordinaire Art Tatum performs "Yesterdays".. composed by Jerome Davi...

published: 06 Sep 2008

author: eccentricXXX

Art Tatum- Humouresque

Art Tatum- a God amongst men...

published: 23 Jul 2006

author: chelle8506

Art Tatum - Tatum Pole Boogie *Live April 1949 Los Angeles*

Art Tatum : Tatum Pole Boogie *Live* April 1949, Los Angeles, CA...

published: 12 Sep 2008

author: Eeco Rijken Rapp

The Legendary Art Tatum (Tinys Excercise)-full

Chick Corea hosts the Art Tatum trio clip of their warm up piece called tiny's exercis...

published: 05 Aug 2007

author: shelim23

Art Tatum - Flying Home (live) (audio only)

Art Tatum - Flying Home (live) (audio only)...

published: 24 May 2012

author: tzahorik

Thomas Fats Waller & Art Tatum

Clip of Thomas Fats Waller (1941) & Art Tatum (1943...

published: 31 May 2007

author: Pibbs1

Art Tatum: "Tiger Rag"

Renowned pianist Steven Mayer performs "Tiger Rag"...

published: 01 Jul 2010

author: StevenMayerFan

Art Tatum Medley

A very cheap medley featuring a few songs of Art Tatums. Art Tatum is widely considered as...

published: 23 Mar 2010

author: helmut4lyfe

Art Tatum plays Ain't Misbehavin'

Art Tatum playing a remarkably different version of Ain't Misbehavin' before a liv...

published: 02 Jan 2008

author: credman

Art Tatum - Stardust (live) (audio only)

Don't have the details of this recording. Any information would be appreciated!...

published: 02 Jun 2012

author: tzahorik

Art Tatum plays his version of Stardust

This video features Art playing his version of Stardust, written by Hoagy Carmichael , who...

published: 18 Apr 2009

author: CBasie2856

Art Tatum - Elegy

My personal favorite....

published: 29 Oct 2010

author: liszt100

Art Tatum plays Lulu's Back in Town (live,1935)

rec. live 1935 the incredible Tatum......

published: 16 Aug 2010

author: gullivior

"Wedding Day" - A Wedding Video...RAP

http://www.lifestagefilms.com "One of the top 25 Event Filmmakers on the Planet" - EventDV...

published: 26 Sep 2011

author: Life Stage Films

Art Tatum's Tiger Rag

from wikipedia: Tatum drew inspiration from his contemporaries James P. Johnson and Fats W...

published: 19 Sep 2008

author: Foundring

The Art Tatum Centennial Celebration

http://bit.ly/tatumcentennial - It is no stretch to state that Art Tatum was the jazz worl...

published: 25 Sep 2009

author: Concord Music Group

Art Tatum's Body & Soul

one of many of Tatum's versions of this classic tune. this is the most recent and my perso...

published: 19 Sep 2008

author: Foundring

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Photo: AP / Salisu Rabiu

Suspected members of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram, are detained by the military, in Bukavu Barracks in Kano state, Nigeria, Wednesday, March 21, 2012.

Nigeria army 'abuses' in Boko Haram crackdown - Amnesty

BBC News

01 Nov 2012

Nigerian security forces have carried out widespread abuses in their campaign against the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, . The rights group says in a report that abuses include extrajudicial...

Chat

Photo: USAF / Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen

Aerial views of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy to the New Jersey coast taken during a search and rescue mission by 1-150 Assault Helicopter Battalion, New Jersey Army National Guard, Oct. 30, 2012.

Scope of Sandy's devastation widens, death toll spirals

CNBC

02 Nov 2012

NEW YORK (Reuters) - From New York City's Staten Island to the popular beach towns of the Jersey Shore, rescuers and officials on Friday faced growing evidence of widespread destruction wrought by...

Chat

Photo: AP / Mike Groll

This aerial photo shows burned-out homes in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough New York after a fire on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012.

Iran Offers to Send Emergency Aid Team to Stricken New York

The New York Times

31 Oct 2012

TEHRAN — Iranian rescuers and aid workers are on standby to fly to New York City to provide assistance to those affected by Hurricane Sandy, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent Organization...

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Photo: AP / Paul White

A private security officer tries to avoid an insect in front of the Madrid Arena indoor venue in Madrid, Thursday Nov. 1, 2012.

3 killed in Madrid Halloween party stampede

CNN

01 Nov 2012

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Art Tatum
Art Tatum, 1946
Background information
Birth name	Arthur Tatum, Jr.
Born	(1909-10-13)October 13, 1909 Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Died	November 5, 1956(1956-11-05) (aged 47)
Genres	Jazz, stride
Occupations	Jazz pianist
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1927–1956

Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. (October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind since birth.

Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time^[1] and he was a major influence on later generations of jazz pianists. He was noted for the complexity and speed of his performances, which set a new standard for jazz piano virtuosity. 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."^[2]

1 Life and career
2 Style
3 Technique
4 After hours
5 Group work
6 Repertoire
7 Emulators
8 Recordings
9 Film
10 Legacy and tributes
11 Discography
12 Notes
13 References
14 External links

Life and career [link]

Art Tatum, at the Vogue Room, New York (between 1946 and 1948)

For a musician of such stature, there is very little published information available about Tatum's life. Only one full-length biography has been published, Too Marvelous for Words, by James Lester.^[3] Lester interviewed many of Tatum's contemporaries for the book and drew from many articles published about him.

Early years [link]

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.^[4] He had two siblings, Karl and Arlene.^[5] 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.^[6]

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. In a Voice of America interview, he denied the widespread rumor that he learned to play by copying piano roll recordings made by two pianists.^[7] 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.^[8] While playing piano was the most obvious application of his mental and physical 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.^[9] 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.^[10] By the age of 19, Tatum was playing with singer Jon Hendricks, also an Ohioan, at the local Waiters' and Bellmens' Club.^[11] As word of Tatum spread, national performers passing through Toledo, including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Joe Turner and Fletcher Henderson, would make it a point to drop in to hear the piano phenomenon.

Musical career [link]

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. Tatum identified Waller as his main influence, but according to pianist Teddy Wilson and saxophonist Eddie Barefield, "Art Tatum's favorite jazz piano player was Earl Hines. He used to buy all of Earl's records and would improvise on them. He'd play the record but he'd improvise over what Earl was doing ..... 'course, when you heard Art play you didn't hear nothing of anybody but Art. But he got his ideas from Earl's style of playing – but Earl never knew that."^[12] 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. James P. Johnson, reminiscing about Tatum's debut afterward, simply said, "When Tatum played Tea For Two that night I guess that was the first time I ever heard it really played." ^[13] 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.^[5] He returned to Ohio and played around the American midwest in the mid-1930s and played on the Fleischman Hour radio program hosted by Rudy Vallee in 1935. He also played stints at the Three Deuces in Chicago and in Los Angeles played at The Trocadero, the Paramount and the Club Alabam.^[14] In 1937 he returned to New York where he appeared at clubs and played on national radio programs.^[11] The following year he embarked on the Queen Mary for England where he toured,^[15] 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.

1940s [link]

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.

The last two years of his life, Tatum regularly played at Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit, including his final public performance in April 1956.^[16] Earlier, Tatum had personally selected and purchased for Clarence Baker the Steinway piano at Baker's, finding it in a New York showroom, and shipping it to Detroit.^[17]

Death [link]

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^{[citation needed]}. 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.^[18]

Style [link]

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. Jazz soloing in the 1930s had not yet evolved into the free-ranging extended improvisations that flowered in the bebop era of the 1940s, 1950s and beyond. But jazz musicians were beginning to incorporate improvisation while playing over the chord changes of tunes, and Tatum was a leader in that movement. He sometimes improvised lines that presaged bebop and later jazz genres, although generally not venturing far from the original melodic line. Tatum embellished melodic lines, however, with an array of signature devices and runs that appeared throughout his repertoire. As he matured, Tatum became more adventurous in abandoning the written melody and elongating his improvisations.

Tatum's unique sound was attributable to his harmonic inventiveness as well as technical prowess. He 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",^[19] 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. Pianist Jay McShann, not known for showering compliments on his rivals said "Art could really play the blues. To me, he was the world's greatest blues player, and I think few people realized that." ^[20] His repertoire, however, 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. Benny Green wrote in his collected work of essays, The Reluctant Art, that "Tatum has been the only jazz musician to date who has made an attempt to conceive a style based upon all styles, to master the mannerisms of all schools and then synthesize those into something personal." ^[21] He was playful, spontaneous and often inserted quotes from other songs into his improvisations.^[22] 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. When jazz pianist Stanley Cowell was growing up in Toledo, his father prevailed upon Tatum to play piano at the Cowell home. Stanley described the scene as, "Tatum played so brilliantly and so much . . . that I thought the piano was gonna break. My mother left the room . . . so I said 'What's wrong, Mama?' And she said 'Oh, that man plays too much piano.'" ^[23] A handful of critics, notably Keith Jarret, have complained that Tatum played too many notes^[24] or was too ornamental or was even 'unjazzlike'. Jazz critic Gary Giddins opined, "That is the essence of Tatum. If you don't like his ornament, you should be listening to someone else. That's where his genius is." ^[25]

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, Tete Montoliu 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.^[26]

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. 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 [link]

Critic Gunther Schuller declared, "On one point there is universal agreement: Tatum's awesome technique."^[27] 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."^[28] Even when playing scintillating runs at high velocity, it appeared that his fingers hardly moved. Hank Jones said, "When I finally met him and got a chance to hear him play in person, it seemed as if he wasn’t really exerting much effort, he had an effortless way of playing. It was deceptive. You’d watch him and you couldn’t believe what was coming out, what was reaching your ears. He didn’t have that much motion at the piano. He didn’t make a big show of moving around and waving his hands and going through all sorts of physical gyrations to produce the music that he produced, so that in itself is amazing. There had to be intense concentration there, but you couldn’t tell by just looking at him play."^[29] 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,^[30] yet his recordings are never sloppy. Tatum also displayed phenomenal independence of the hands and ambidexterity, which was particularly evident while improvising counterpoint. Jazz historian and commentator Ira Gitler declared that Tatum's "left hand was the equal of his right." ^[31] 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.^[32]

Tatum played chords with a relatively flat-fingered technique compared to the curvature taught in classical training. Composer/pianist Mary Lou Williams told Whitney Balliett, "Tatum taught me how to hit my notes, how to control them without using pedals. And he showed me how to keep my fingers flat on the keys to get that clean tone." ^[33] 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."^[34] When his fastest tracks of "Tiger Rag" are slowed down, they still reveal a coherent, syncopated rhythm.

After hours [link]

Art Tatum headlining at the Famous Door nightclub on 52nd Street, 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.^[30] Tatum was said to be more spontaneous and creative in those free-form nocturnal sessions than in his scheduled performances.^[30] Evidence of this can be found in the set entitled 20th Century Piano Genius which consists of 40 tunes recorded at private parties at the home of Hollywood music director Ray Heindorf in 1950 and 1955. According to the review by Marc Greilsamer, "All of the trademark Tatum elements are here: the grand melodic flourishes, the harmonic magic tricks, the flirtations with various tempos and musical styles. But what also emerges is Tatum's effervescence, his joy, and his humor. He seems to celebrate and mock these timeless melodies all at once."^[35]

Group work [link]

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."^[36] Clarinetist Buddy DeFranco said that playing with Tatum was "like chasing a train."^[31] Tatum said of himself, "A band hampers me."^[37]

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 [link]

Tatum's repertoire consisted mainly of music from the Great American Songbook — Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and other popular music of the 20s, 30s and 40s. He played his own arrangements of a few classical piano pieces as well, most famously Dvořák's Humoresque no. 7 and Massenet's "Elegie". These interpretations are unsurpassed in conception and inventiveness by anything that has been recorded since^{[citation needed]}. Although Tatum was not known as a composer,^[38] his versions of popular numbers were so original as to border on composition.

Emulators [link]

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.^[39] 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, and, outside of the usual roster of jazz pianists, Andre Previn — have attempted to seriously emulate or challenge Tatum. Although Bud Powell was of the bebop movement, his prolific and exciting style showed Tatum influence.^{[citation needed]}

Recordings [link]

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.^[40] 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 [link]

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.

Legacy and tributes [link]

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."^[41] Fats Waller's son confirmed the statement.^[42]

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!”^[43]

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.^[44] 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."^[45] "Musically speaking, he was and is my musical God, and I feel honored to remain one of his humbly devoted disciples."^[46]

"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."^[47]

The jazz pianist and educator Kenny Barron commented, "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!"^[48] 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."^[49] 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'".^[50] Dizzy Gillespie said, "First you speak of Art Tatum, then take a long deep breath, and you speak of the other pianists."^[51]

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."^[51]

Other luminaries of the day including Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubinstein, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Leonard Bernstein, Leopold Godowsky and George Gershwin marveled at Tatum's genius.^[30]

Jazz critic Leonard Feather has called Tatum "the greatest soloist in jazz history, regardless of instrument."^[51]

In 1993, J. A. Bilmes, a MIT student invented a term that is now in common usage in the field of computational musicology: The Tatum. It means "the smallest perceptual time unit in music" and is a tribute to Tatum's pianistic velocity.^[52]

The Toledo Jazz Society presents an annual event dedicated to Tatum entitled the Art Tatum Jazz Heritage Festival.^[53]

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. Using computer equipment coupled with an electronic incarnation of the player piano, 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 Los Angeles' 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.^[54] Zenph’s re-performances have been performed live in numerous venues, including the Toronto Jazz Festival ^[55] 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.^[56]

In 2009 in Toledo at the new Lucas County Arena a memorial was placed to Art Tatum.^[57]

Non pianist musicians influenced by Tatum's improvisational virtuosity include Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead who was quoted in the June 1985 edition of Frets Magazine as saying: "Art Tatum is my all-time favorite. Yeah, he’s my all-time favorite. He’s the guy I put on when I want to feel really small [laughs]. When I want to feel really insignificant [laughs]. He’s a good guy to play for any musician, you know. He’ll make them want to go home and burn their instruments. [Laughs.] Art Tatum is absolutely the most incredible musician – what can you say?"

Pianist Yuja Wang, herself an admirer of Tatum's improvisational freedom, has recorded his 1933 arrangement of Tea for Two in her album, Fantasia.^[58]^[59] This was included in the iTunes release of the album.^[60] She is also known to have played it as an encore during a concert in Avery Fisher Hall.^[61]

Discography [link]

Art Tatum Piano Impressesions, ARA A-1, date unknown c.1940s
Art Tatum Piano Solos, Asch 356, c.1945
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

Actress Tatum O'Neal states in her book A paper life that she was named for him.

Notes [link]

^ Robert Doerschuk, 88 - The Giants of Jazz Piano, p. 58 ". . . by consensus, the greatest jazz pianist who ever lived." Also see Legacy and Tributes section below.
^ allmusic ((( Art Tatum > Overview )))
^ James Lester (1994) Too Marvelous for Words: The Life and Genius of Art Tatum, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-509640-1
^ David Yonke, Time-Tested Tatum, toledojazzsociety.org
^ ^a ^b Ron Davis, Ars Gratia Tatum, rddavis.com
^ Lester, Too Marvelous for Words: The Life and Genius of Art Tatum: James Lester: Oxford University Press 1994:ISB 0-19-508365-2
^ Lester, Too Marvelous for Words, p. 44
^ Lester, Too Marvelous for Words
^ Lester, Too Marvelous for Words, p. 37-38
^ Robert Dupuis, Art Tatum Biography, musicianguide.com; see also Jed Distler's introduction 'Art Tatum' in the Jazz Masters series
^ ^a ^b Jazz Profiles from NPR
^ Lester: Too Marvelous for Words: p 57/58
^ Ed Kirkeby, Ain't Misbehavin: The Story of Fats Waller. Fats Waller recalled the showdown: "That Tatum, he was just too good.... He had too much technique. When that man turns on the powerhouse, don't no one play him down. He sounds like a brass band." Robert Doerschuk, 88 - The Giants of Jazz Piano, p. 58.
^ John Cohassey, "Art Tatum." Contemporary Black Biography. The Gale Group, Inc, 2006. Answers.com 21 Dec. 2009. http://www.answers.com/topic/art-tatum
^ "Much to his dismay, Tatum's American club audiences were often noisy, whereas those in England behaved like concert listeners, a reception the pianist tried to cultivate wherever he went": www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608000093/Art-Tatum.html
^ Bjorn, Lars & Gallert, Jim Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit University of Michigan Press, 2001 ISBN 0-472-06765-6, ISBN 978-0-472-06765-7 p 117
^ Stryker, Mark, "New owners rescue Baker's Keyboard Lounge - and fulfill a dream, Detroit Free Press (January 31, 2011)
^ FindAGrave entry http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=62559435
^ Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. Four, Pablo, recorded December 29, 1953
^ As quoted in Lynn Bayley's liner notes to Knockin' Myself Out, remastered Tatum recordings on Pristine Audio
^ John Cohassey, Contemporary Black Biography, Art Tatum, Vol. 28, p. 187-190.
^ Critic Gunther Schuller opined that Tatum overused melodic quotations. Gunther Schuller, The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930 - 1945, p.480
^ Lester, Too Marvelous for Words, p. 141
^ Keith Jarrett in September 2009 interview stated as much. http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/interview-with-keith-jarrett.html
^ Art Tatum: A Talent Never To Be Duplicated, www.npr.org
^ As quoted in the liner notes to the reissue of Capitol CDP 7 92866 2.
^ Schuller, The Swing Era, p. 477
^ Chick Corea thus described Tatum's impression on other piano players in the 1930s, in a jazz history presentation.
^ Bret Primack, Art Tatum: No Greater Art, www.jazztimes.com (January/February 1998)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lester, Too Marvelous for Words, p. ?
^ ^a ^b Ira Gitler Remembers Art Tatum, http://www.in.com/videos/watchvideo-ira-gitler-remembers-art-tatum-3899634.html
^ Lester, Too Marvelous for Words, p. 174 (quoting from pianist Billy Taylor)
^ Robert Dupuis, Art Tatum Biography, musicianguide.com; see also http://www.pianofundamentals.com/book/en/1.III.4.2
^ Lester, Too Marvelous for Words, p. 140
^ See Editorial Review for Art Tatum: 20th Century Piano Genius on Amazon.com
^ quoted in Chip Stern's 1995 liner notes for a CD reissue of Tatum's The Piano Starts Here (1968), Columbia Records, ISBN 886972326221
^ "Solo Man", Time, Dec. 5, 1949, p.56
^ Tatum wrote Shout and co-authored Wee Wee Baby, You Sure Look Good to Me. His recording of Shout was included in the soundtrack of the film The Great Debaters.
^ See, e.g., Riccardo Scivales (1998) The Right Hand According to Tatum
^ Tatum recorded over 400 titles, according to Gunther Schuller, The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930 - 1945.
^ John Burnett. "Art Tatum: A Talent Never to Be Duplicated". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6434701. "The great stride pianist Fats Waller famously announced one night when Tatum walked into the club where Waller was playing, 'I only play the piano, but tonight God is in the house.'"
^ Bassist Charles Mingus disputed the story in his autobiography, saying that the actual line was "Oh, God! Tatum is in the house." Mingus may have had an ulterior motive in making that comment, however. According to vibraphonist Red Norvo, in whose group Mingus played bass around 1950, Mingus tried out for Tatum's trio but did not have the ear to follow Tatum's "difficult atonal things". Lester, Too Marvelous for Words, p. 148, 168
^ Bill Crow, Jazz Anecdotes, Oxford Univ. Press, 1991, p. 277
^ Told by Peterson himself on "Omnibus: Oscar Peterson and Andre Previn" - BBC, 1977; and "In the Key of Oscar" - NFB Documentary, 1992
^ Jazz Professional, 1962, http://www.jazzprofessional.com/interviews/Oscar%20Peterson_Points.htm
^ Journal, Oscar Peterson, March 7, 2004
^ March 30, 1996 interview with Hank Jones, reprinted in liner notes to Art Tatum, 20th Century Piano Genius, Verve reissue 1996
^ Kenny Barron, A Musical Autobiography, Victor Verney, allaboutjazz.com
^ From the liner notes to Capitol CDP 7 92866 2
^ "Mulgrew Miller: The Messenger", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il7pXr0dclU
^ ^a ^b ^c Art Tatum, enotes
^ Tristan Jehan, Creating Music by Listening, "Chapter 3: Music Listening," Massachusetts Institute of Technology, dissertation submitted September 2005.
^ toledojazzsociety.org
^ Zenph Studio The Making of Piano Starts Here video footage
^ Toronto Jazz Festival - Festival Events
^ Gordon Goodwin and the Big Phat Band, Act Your Age
^ Art Tatum Memorial; http://www.acgt.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=58
^ Yuja Wang | Fantasia
^ Interchanging Idioms: Yuja Wang's Fantasia out on Deutsche Grammophon April 10th
^ iTunes - Music - Fantasia by Yuja Wang
^ An Astounding Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto from Yuja Wang | Seen and Heard International

References [link]

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 0-943748-85-2

External links [link]

Persondata
Name	Tatum, Art
Alternative names	Tatum, Arthur, Jr.
Short description	American jazz pianist
Date of birth	October 13, 1909
Place of birth	Toledo, Ohio, United States
Date of death	November 5, 1956
Place of death

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http://ru.wn.com/Тэйтум, Арт

http://pt.wn.com/Art Tatum

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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Tatum

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For the United States Navy sailor and Medal of Honor recipient, see Oscar V. Peterson.

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson
Peterson in 1977
Background information
Birth name	Oscar Emmanuel Peterson
Born	(1925-08-15)August 15, 1925
Origin	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died	December 23, 2007(2007-12-23) (aged 82) Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Jazz
Occupations	Pianist, composer, vocalist
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1945–2007
Labels	Mercury, MPS, Pablo, Telarc, Verve
Website	www.oscarpeterson.com

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson CC CQ OOnt (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends.^[1]^[2] He released over 200 recordings, won eight Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career. He is considered to have been one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time,^[3] having played thousands of live concerts to audiences worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years.

1 Biography
2 Awards and recognition
3 Instruments
4 Discography
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Biography [link]

Peterson was born to immigrants from the West Indies; his father worked as a porter for Canadian Pacific Railway.^[4] Peterson grew up in the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy in Montreal, Quebec. It was in this predominantly black neighbourhood that he found himself surrounded by the jazz culture that flourished in the early 20th century.^[5] At the age of five, Peterson began honing his skills with the trumpet and piano. However, a bout of tuberculosis at age seven prevented him from playing the trumpet again, and so he directed all his attention to the piano. His father, Daniel Peterson, an amateur trumpeter and pianist, was one of his first music teachers, and his sister Daisy taught young Oscar classical piano. Young Oscar was persistent at practising scales and classical etudes daily, and thanks to such arduous practice he developed his astonishing virtuosity.

As a child, Peterson also studied with Hungarian-born pianist Paul de Marky, a student of István Thomán, who was himself a pupil of Franz Liszt, so his training was predominantly based on classical piano. Meanwhile he was captivated by traditional jazz and learned several ragtime pieces and especially the boogie-woogie. At that time Peterson was called "the Brown Bomber of the Boogie-Woogie."^[6]

At age nine Peterson played piano with control that impressed professional musicians. For many years his piano studies included four to six hours of practice daily. Only in his later years did he decrease his daily practice to just one or two hours. In 1940, at age fourteen, Peterson won the national music competition organized by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. After that victory, he dropped out of school and became a professional pianist working for a weekly radio show, and playing at hotels and music halls.

Influences [link]

Some of the artists who influenced Peterson's musicianship during the earlier type of years were Teddy Wilson, Nat "King" Cole, James P. Johnson and Art Tatum, to whom many have tried to compare Peterson in later years.^[7] One of his first exposures to Tatum's musical talents came early in his teen years when his father played Art Tatum's Tiger Rag for him, and Peterson was so intimidated by what he heard that he became disillusioned about his own playing, to the extent of refusing to play the piano at all for several weeks. In his own words, "Tatum scared me to death" and Peterson was "never cocky again" about his mastery at the piano.^[8] Tatum was a model for Peterson's musicianship during the 1940s and 1950s. Tatum and Peterson eventually became good friends, although Peterson was always shy about being compared with Tatum and rarely played the piano in Tatum's presence.

Peterson has also credited his sister Daisy Sweeney — a noted piano teacher in Montreal who also taught several other noted Canadian jazz musicians — with being an important teacher and influence on his career. Under his sister's tutelage, Peterson expanded into classical piano training and broadened his range while mastering the core classical pianism from scales to preludes and fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach.^[9]

Building on Art Tatum's pianism and aesthetics, Peterson also absorbed Tatum's musical influences, notably from piano concertos by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff's harmonizations, as well as direct quotations from his 2nd Piano Concerto, are thrown in here and there in many recordings by Peterson, including his work with the most familiar formulation of the Oscar Peterson Trio, with bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Herb Ellis. During the 1960s and 1970s Peterson made numerous trio recordings highlighting his piano performances that reveal more of his eclectic style that absorbed influences from various genres of jazz, popular and classical music.

Norman Granz [link]

An important step in his career was joining impresario Norman Granz's labels (especially Verve) and Granz's "Jazz at the Philharmonic" project. Granz discovered Peterson in a peculiar manner. As the impresario was being taken to the Montreal airport by cab, the radio was playing a live broadcast of Peterson at a local night club. Granz was so smitten by what he heard that he ordered the driver to take him to the club so that he could meet the pianist. In 1949, Granz introduced Peterson at a Carnegie Hall Jazz at the Philharmonic show in New York.^[10]

So was born a lasting relationship and Granz remained Peterson's manager for most of his career. One poignant illustration: in the last two years of his life, Peterson doted on a boxer dog that he named "Smedley," Peterson's nickname for Granz. On the day of Peterson's death, Smedley lay on the bed with him and would not leave.^[11]

This was more than a managerial relationship; Peterson praised Granz for standing up for him and other black jazz musicians in the segregationist south of the 1950s and 1960s. For example, in the Canadian Broadcasting Company's two-part documentary video Music in the Key of Oscar, Peterson tells how Granz stood up to a gun-toting southern policeman who wanted to stop the trio from using "white-only" taxis. The entire documentary is a fascinating account of Peterson's life from his Montreal childhood, to his career, to his family relations and includes interviews with Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and Ella Fitzgerald. Its narrative ends in 1993, just before Peterson's debilitating stroke.^[12]

In the course of his career, Peterson developed a reputation as a technically brilliant and melodically inventive jazz pianist and became a regular on Canadian radio from the 1940s. His name was already recognized in the United States. However, his 1949 debut at Carnegie Hall, New York City, arranged by Norman Granz, was uncredited; owing to union restrictions, his appearance could not be billed.^{[citation needed]}

Through Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic he was able to play with the major jazz artists of the time. Some of his musical associates included Ray Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Milt Jackson, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel, Ed Thigpen, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Louis Armstrong, Stéphane Grappelli, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Clark Terry, Joe Pass, Anita O'Day, Fred Astaire, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, and Stan Getz.

Duets [link]

Peterson made numerous duo performances and recordings with bassists Ray Brown, Sam Jones, and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, guitarists Joe Pass, Irving Ashby, Herb Ellis, and Barney Kessel, pianists Count Basie, Herbie Hancock, Benny Green, and Keith Emerson, trumpeters Clark Terry and Louis Armstrong, and many other important jazz players. His 1950s duo recordings with bassist Ray Brown mark the formation of one of the longest lasting partnerships in the history of jazz. Peterson's 1970's duo with guitarist Joe Pass has been considered one of the highest standards in the genre.

According to pianist/educator Mark Eisenman, some of Peterson's best playing was as an understated accompanist to singer Ella Fitzgerald and trumpeter Roy Eldridge.^[13]

Trio [link]

Joe Pass and Oscar Peterson at Eastman Theatre Rochester in N.Y.

Peterson redefined the jazz trio by bringing musicianship of all three members to the highest level. The definitive trio with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis was, in his own words "the most stimulating" and productive setting for public performances as well as in studio recordings. In the early 1950s, Peterson began performing with Ray Brown and Charlie Smith as the Oscar Peterson Trio. Shortly afterward the drummer Smith was replaced by guitarist Irving Ashby, formerly of the Nat King Cole Trio. Ashby, who was a swing guitarist, was soon replaced by Barney Kessel.^[14] Kessel tired of touring after a year, and was succeeded by Herb Ellis. As Ellis was white, Peterson's trios were racially integrated, a controversial move at the time that was fraught with difficulties with segregationist whites and blacks.

Oscar Peterson Trio at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival is widely regarded as the landmark album in Peterson's career, and one of the most influential trios in jazz. Their last recording, On the Town with the Oscar Peterson Trio, recorded live at the Town Tavern in Toronto, captured a remarkable degree of emotional as well as musical understanding between three players.^[15] All three musicians were equal contributors involved in a highly sophisticated improvisational interplay. When Herb Ellis left the group in 1958, Peterson and Brown believed they could not adequately replace Ellis. Ellis was replaced by drummer Ed Thigpen in 1959. Brown and Thigpen worked with Peterson on his famous albums Night Train and the successful Canadiana Suite. Brown and Thigpen left in 1965 and were replaced by bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes (and later, drummer Bobby Durham). The trio performed together until 1970. Their albums included pop songs such as The Beatles' "Yesterday" and "Eleanor Rigby". In the fall of 1970, Peterson's trio were successful in their album Tristeza on Piano which was a eulogy of the recently deceased Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, the Monterey Pop Festival stars. This record was released on CD in 1985, went out of print, and then came back remastered in 2005 as an anniversary edition. Selections from this trio's work have been incidentally used for Japanese anime and other live action films. Jones and Durham left in 1970.

In the 1970s Peterson formed another landmark trio with virtuoso guitarist Joe Pass and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass. This trio emulated the success of the 1950s trio with Brown and Ellis, gave acclaimed performances at numerous festivals, and made best-selling recordings, most notably the 1978 double album recorded live in Paris. In 1974 Oscar added British drummer, Martin Drew, and this quartet toured and recorded extensively worldwide. Pass said in a 1976 interview: "The only guys I've heard who come close to total mastery of their instruments are Art Tatum and Peterson".

Quartet [link]

A quartet was a less permanent setting for Peterson, after the trio or duo, as it was hard to find equally powerful musicians available for a tightly knit arrangement with him. After the loss of Ellis his next trio eventually turned into a quartet after he added a drummer — first Gene Gammage for a brief time, then Ed Thigpen. In this group Peterson became the dominant soloist. Later members of the group were Louis Hayes, Bobby Durham, Ray Price, Sam Jones, George Mraz, Martin Drew and Lorne Lofsky.^[3]

Peterson often formed a quartet by adding a fourth player to his existing trios. He was open to experimental collaborations with jazz stars, such as saxophonist Ben Webster, trumpeter Clark Terry, and vibraphonist Milt Jackson among others. In 1961, the Peterson trio with Jackson recorded a highly praised album, Very Tall.

Further career [link]

From the late 1950s, when Peterson gained worldwide recognition as one of the leading pianists in jazz, he played in a variety of settings: solo, duo, trio, quartet, small bands, and big bands. However, his solo piano recitals, as well as his solo piano recordings were rare, until he chose to make a series of solo albums titled "Exclusively for my friends." These solo piano sessions, made for the Musik Produktion Schwarzwald (MPS) label, were Peterson's response to the emergence of such stars as Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner.

Some cognoscenti assert that Peterson's best recordings were made for MPS in the late 1960s and early 1970s. For some years subsequently he recorded for Granz's Pablo Records after the label was founded in 1973.^{[citation needed]} In the 1990s and 2000s he recorded several albums accompanied by a combo for Telarc.

In the 1980s he played successfully in a duo with pianist Herbie Hancock. In the late 1980s and 1990s, after the stroke, Peterson made performances and recordings with his protégé Benny Green.

Composer and teacher [link]

Peterson wrote pieces for piano, for trio, for quartet and for big band. He also wrote several songs, and made recordings as a singer. Probably his best-known compositions are "Canadiana Suite" and "Hymn to Freedom," the latter composed in the 1960s and inspired by the U.S. civil rights movement.

Peterson taught piano and improvisation in Canada, mainly in Toronto. With associates, he started and headed the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto for five years during the 1960s, but it closed because concert touring called him and his associates away, and it did not have government funding.^[16] Later, he mentored the York University jazz program and was the Chancellor of the entire university for several years in the early 1990s. He also published his original jazz piano etudes for practice. However, he asked his students to study the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially The Well-Tempered Clavier, the Goldberg Variations, and The Art of Fugue, considering these piano pieces essential for every serious pianist. Pianists Benny Green and Oliver Jones were among his students.^[17]

Stroke, later years and death [link]

Peterson had arthritis since his youth, and in later years could hardly button his shirt. Never slender, his weight increased to 125 kg (280 lb), hindering his mobility. He had hip replacement surgery in the early 1990s.^[18] Although the surgery was successful, his mobility was still inhibited. Somewhat later, in 1993, Peterson suffered a serious stroke that weakened his left side and sidelined him for two years. Also in 1993 incoming Prime Minister and longtime Peterson fan and friend Jean Chrétien offered Peterson the position of Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, but according to Chrétien he declined, citing the health problems from his recent stroke.^[19]

After the stroke, Peterson recuperated for about two years. He gradually regained mobility and some control of his left hand. However, his virtuosity was never restored to the original level, and his playing after his stroke relied principally on his right hand.^[20] In 1995 he returned to public performances on a limited basis, and also made several live and studio recordings for Telarc. In 1997 he received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award, another indication that Peterson continued to be regarded as one of the greatest jazz musicians ever to play. Canadian politician, friend, and amateur pianist Bob Rae contends that "a one-handed Oscar was better than just about anyone with two hands".^[21]

In 2003, Peterson recorded the DVD A Night in Vienna for Verve, with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (NHØP), Ulf Wakenius and Martin Drew. He continued to tour the U.S. and Europe, though maximally one month a year, with a couple of days' rest between concerts to recover his strength. His accompanists consisted of Ulf Wakenius (guitar), NHØP or David Young (bass),^[22] and Alvin Queen (drums), all leaders of their own groups.

Peterson's health declined rapidly in 2007. He had to cancel his performance at the 2007 Toronto Jazz Festival and his attendance at a June 8, 2007 Carnegie Hall all-star performance in his honour, owing to illness. On December 23, 2007, Peterson died of kidney failure at his home in Mississauga, Ontario.^[23]^[24] He left seven children, his fourth wife Kelly, and their daughter, Celine (born 1991).

Awards and recognition [link]

Musical awards and recognition [link]

Begone Dull Care is an abstract film presentation of Peterson's music, released in 1949.

His work earned him eight Grammy awards over the years and he was elected to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1978. He also belongs to the Juno Awards Hall of Fame and the Canadian Jazz and Blues Hall of Fame.

Peterson received the first Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award from Black Theatre Workshop (1986), Roy Thomson Award (1987), a Toronto Arts Award for lifetime achievement (1991), the Governor General's Performing Arts Award (1992), the Glenn Gould Prize (1993), the award of the International Society for Performing Artists (1995), the Loyola Medal of Concordia University (1997), the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1997), the Praemium Imperiale World Art Award (1999), the UNESCO Music Prize (2000), the Toronto Musicians' Association Musician of the Year award (2001), and an honorary LLD from the University of the West Indies (2006).

In 1999, Concordia University in Montreal renamed their Loyola-campus concert hall Oscar Peterson Concert Hall in his honour.^[25]

In 2005, Peterson celebrated his 80th birthday at the HMV flagship store in Toronto, where a crowd of about 200 gathered to celebrate with him. Long time admirer, and fellow Canadian Diana Krall, sang "Happy Birthday" to him and also performed a vocal version of one of Peterson's songs "When Summer Comes". The lyrics for this version were written by Elvis Costello, Krall's husband. Canada Post unveiled a commemorative postage stamp in his honour. The event was covered by a live radio broadcast by Toronto jazz station, JAZZ.FM.

Peterson received the BBC-Radio Lifetime Achievement Award, London, England.^[26]

"Technique is something you use to make your ideas listenable," he once told jazz writer Len Lyons. "You learn to play the instrument so you have a musical vocabulary, and you practice to get your technique to the point you need to express yourself, depending on how heavy your ideas are."

"Some may criticize Peterson for not advancing, for finding his niche and staying with it for an entire career, but while he may not be the most revolutionary artist in jazz, the documentary Music in the Key of Oscar demonstrates that breaking down barriers can be accomplished in more ways than one."^[27] "He was a crystallizer, rather than an innovator."^[20]

""His hands could do things few piano players can do," said pianist Bill King who studied with Peterson at his music school. Because Peterson was a big man — six feet three inches — he could stretch his hands over a keyboard in a way few musicians can match.^[28]

Ray Charles, in Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues - Piano Blues (2003), said "Oscar Peterson is a mother fucking piano player!"

Recognition in Canada [link]

Statue of Peterson at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, unveiled in June 2010 by the reigning sovereign of Canada, Queen Elizabeth II^[29]

While Peterson was recognized as a great jazz pianist both at home in Canada and internationally, he was also regarded in Canada as a distinguished public figure. His notable personage is evident in the acclaim and awards he received, particularly in the latter two decades of his life.

He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (the country's highest civilian state order for talent and service) in 1972, and promoted to Companion of the order (the highest degree of merit and humanity), in 1984. He was also a member of the Order of Ontario, a Chevalier of the National Order of Quebec, and an officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.

From 1991 to 1994, Peterson was chancellor of York University in Toronto. The chancellor is the titular head of the university. Weeks after his death, the Province of Ontario announced a C$4 million scholarship for the "Oscar Peterson Chair" for Jazz Performance at York University with an additional C$1 million to be awarded annually in music scholarships to underprivileged York students in tribute to Peterson.^[28]

Peterson's niece, television journalist Sylvia Sweeney, produced an award-winning documentary film, In the Key of Oscar, about Peterson in 1992.

Unlike most other jazz musicians, Oscar Peterson was networked with Canadian elites in the later years of his life. For example, former Ontario premier Bob Rae recalled that in 2007, himself, Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry, and former Ontario premier Bill Davis celebrated McMurtry's retirement with Peterson, his wife, and their wives.^[30]

Peterson received honorary doctorates from many Canadian universities: Carleton University, Queen's University, Concordia University, McMaster University, Mount Allison University, the University of Victoria, the University of Western Ontario, York University, the University of Toronto, and the Université Laval, as well as from Northwestern University and Niagara University in the United States.

In 2004, the City of Toronto named the courtyard of the Toronto-Dominion Centre Oscar Peterson Square.

In 2005, the Peel District School Board in suburban Toronto opened the Oscar Peterson school in Mississauga, Ontario, two miles from his home. Peterson said, "This is a most unexpected and moving tribute."^[31] He visited the school several times and donated electronic musical equipment to it.^[20] Soon after Peterson's death, the University of Toronto Mississauga opened a major student residence in March 2008 as "Oscar Peterson Hall".^[32]

Former Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien wanted in 1993 to put Peterson forward to the Governor General of Canada for appointment to the post of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, but Peterson felt that his health could not stand up to the many ceremonial duties that this position would require. "He was the most famous Canadian in the world," said Chrétien. Chrétien also said that Nelson Mandela glowed when meeting Peterson. "It was very emotional. They were both moved to meet each other. These were two men with humble beginnings who rose to very illustrious levels."^[33]

A major memorial concert, held on January 12, 2008, filled the 2500-seat Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. People had queued for more than three hours to get in. Governor General Michaëlle Jean reported at the concert that "thousands" more could not get in. Among the performers were Grégory Charles, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Phil Nimmons and singers Audrey Morris and Nancy Wilson. The "Oscar Peterson" quartet played key pieces; they are Monty Alexander, Jeff Hamilton, Ulf Wakenius and Dave Young. All toured with Peterson during his late "one-handed" period" except Alexander. The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, University of Toronto Gospel Choir^[34] and Sharon Riley & the Faith Chorale, under the direction of Andrew Craid along with opera soprano Measha Brueggergosman closed the show, singing an excerpt from Peterson's "Hymn to Freedom". The show was made available for download.^[21]^[35]

In 2008, a young pianist named Connor Derraugh in Winnipeg, Manitoba wrote a tribute song to Oscar Peterson. He would later play it at an Oscar Peterson tribute concert at a local church and receive a standing ovation. The event was broadcasted on CBC Radio.

A movement was begun on Facebook to rename the Lionel-Groulx Metro station, a transfer station between Montreal's Green Line and Orange Line, in honour of Oscar Peterson. The Montreal Transit Corporation, however, has refused to end its moratorium on renaming Metro stations. The city's policy on landmark tributes is to wait at least a year after a public figure's death.^[36]^[37]^[38]^[39]

An Ontario school named Oscar Peterson Public School was opened in Stouffville in the Regional Municipality of York on 30 April 2009,^[40] and commenced operation in the 2009-2010 school year.

Grammy Awards [link]

1974 Best Jazz Performance by a Group The Trio - Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass and Niels- Henning Orsted Pedersen
1977 Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist The Giants - Oscar Peterson
1978 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist Oscar Peterson Jam – Montreux '77
1979 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist Oscar Peterson and The Trumpet Kings – Jousts - Oscar Peterson
1990 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group The Legendary Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Blue Note
1990 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist The Legendary Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Blue Note
1991 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group Saturday Night at the Blue Note
1997 Lifetime Achievement Award Instrumental Soloist Lifetime Achievement

Honorary Degrees Conferred [link]

1973 Carleton University - Doctor of Laws
1976 Queen's University - Doctor of Laws
1979 Concordia University - Doctor of Laws
1980 Mount Alison, Sackville N.B. - Doctor of Music
1981 McMaster University - Doctor of Laws
1981 University of Victoria, B.C. - Doctor of Laws
1982 York University - Doctor of Letters
1983 Northwestern University, Illinois - Doctor of Fine Arts
1985 University of Toronto - Doctor of Laws
1985 Laval University - Doctor of Music
1991 York University: Installed as Chancellor by the Board of Governors
1994 York University: Chancellor Emeritus
1994 Western Ontario Conservatory of Music - Licentiate in Music Diploma
1994 University of British Columbia - Doctor of Laws
1996 Niagara University, New York - Doctor of Fine Arts
1999 University of Western Ontario - Doctor of Laws

Instruments [link]

Bösendorfer pianos - exclusively in the 1990s and 2000s
Yamaha - Acoustic and Disklavier- 1998-2006 in Canada (Touring and Recording)
Steinway & Sons pianos - most performances from 1940s through the 1980s, some recordings.
Baldwin pianos - some performances in the USA, some recordings.
C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik pianos - some performances and recordings in Europe.
Clavichord - on album "Porgy and Bess" with Joe Pass
Fender electric piano - several recordings.
Synthesizer - several recordings.
Hammond organ - some live performances and several recordings.
Vocals - some live performances and several recordings.

Discography [link]

Further information: Oscar Peterson discography

References [link]

^ Remarks by Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and Bob Rae, Oscar Peterson Tribute - Simply The Best. Concerts On Demand. CBC Radio Two (12 January 2008). Retrieved on 13 January 2008.
^ Severo, Richard (2010-10-20). "OSCAR PETERSON: 1925-2007 / Virtuoso pianist - among jazz world's giants". The San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/25/MNVJU4DP4.DTL.
^ ^a ^b Scott Yanow. "Oscar Peterson Biography". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p7322/biography. Retrieved 2007-01-28. . With typical modesty, Peterson hailed Art Tatum as the greatest jazz pianist, declaring "Musically speaking, he was and is my musical God, and I feel honored to remain one of his humbly devoted disciples." Journal, Oscar Peterson, March 7, 2004; Jazz Professional, 1962, http://www.jazzprofessional.com/interviews/Oscar%20Peterson_Points.htm
^ "Obituaries: Oscar Peterson". The Daily Telegraph (London). 26 December 2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1573622/Oscar-Peterson.html. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
^ "Little Burgundy". McGill University. http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/mellin/arch671/winter2001/marcan/drm/html/littleburgundy.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
^ J.D. Considine (26 December 2007). "King of the keys made jazz a pleasure". Globe and Mail (Toronto). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071226.oscar-appreciation26/BNStory/Entertainment/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20071226.oscar-appreciation26. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
^ Oscar Peterson | Bio
^ Don Heckman (25 December 2007). "Herbie Hancock in "Pianist dazzled jazz world with technique, creativity". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2007-12-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20071228023925/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-me-peterson25dec25,0,7024176.story?coll=la-home-center. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
^ William R Cunningham and Sylvia Sweeney, In the Key of Oscar, National Film Board of Canada, http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/index.php?id=28498, 1992.
^ J.D. Considine (26 December 2007). "King of the keys made jazz a pleasure". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071226.oscar-appreciation26/BNStory/Entertainment/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20071226.oscar-appreciation26. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
^ Remarks by Celine Peterson (daughter), Oscar Peterson Tribute - Simply The Best. Concerts On Demand. CBC Radio Two (12 January 2008). Retrieved on 13 January 2008.
^ View Video, 2004
^ Shsante Infantry (26 December 2007). "Oscar Peterson, 82: Jazz giant". The Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/288762. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
^ "A look at Oscar Peterson's career:". oscarpeterson.com. Archived from the original on 2007-04-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20070428040229/http://www.oscarpeterson.com/op/career.html. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
^ Nat Hentoff. Co-editor, The Jazz Review
^ Al Levy (21 November 2004). "Oscar Peterson". alevy.com. http://www.alevy.com/peterson.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
^ "Several of jazz world's top names to honour Oscar Peterson at free concert". The Canadian Press. 12 January 2008. http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5j8cM3pe_Ji_ef_AccG8IpSHXAPsw. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
^ "Peterson, Oscar". MusicWeb Encyclopaedia of Popular Music. http://www.musicweb-international.com/encyclopaedia/p/P62.HTM. Retrieved 2007-12-25. ^{[dead link]}
^ Alexander Panetta. "Chrétien calls Peterson 'most famous Canadian', says Mandela was moved to meet him". CANOE (The Canadian Press). http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/12/24/4739694-cp.html. Retrieved 2007-12-26. ^{[dead link]}
^ ^a ^b ^c CBC Radio 2, Tonic:"About Oscar's Legacy,"" Part 8
^ ^a ^b "Oscar Peterson Tribute - Simply The Best". Concerts On Demand (CBC Radio Two). 12 January 2008. http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/singleConcert.html?20080112oscar. Retrieved 2008-01-13. ^{[dead link]}
^ Banff Centre faculty
^ "Canadian jazz great Oscar Peterson dies". CBC News. 2007-12-24. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2007/12/24/obit-peterson-oscar.html. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
^ Levine, Doug (27 December 2007). "Jazz World Mourns Oscar Peterson". VOA News (Voice of America). http://voanews.com/english/archive/2007-12/2007-12-26-voa62.cfm. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
^ "Oscar Peterson concert hall". Concordia University. http://oscar.concordia.ca. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
^ 2005 Winners BBC Jazz Awards
^ John Kelman, "Oscar Peterson: Music in the Key of Oscar". All About Jazz, September 24, 2004.
^ ^a ^b "'I don't think we'll ever see another Oscar Peterson': Oliver Jones". CBC News. 11 January 2008. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2008/01/11/oscar-tributes.html?ref=rss. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
^ "Oscar Peterson sculpture awaits Queen's hand". CBC News. 16 June 2010. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/06/16/ottawa-oscar-peterson-queen-elizabeth.html. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
^ Rick Salutin's column, Toronto Globe and Mail, January 18, 2007; www.theglobeandmail.com/opinions/columnists/Rick+Salutin.html
^ "Oscar Peterson in concert at Mississauga public school". CNW newswire.ca. 11 October 2005. http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2005/11/c9832.html. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
^ [1]^{[dead link]}
^ "Chrétien recalls Mandela, Peterson meeting". CTV.ca. 24 December 2007. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071224/peterson_mandela_071224/20071224. Retrieved 2008-01-11. ; http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jysfV8l_cM9t30j6K61HrnzB_i2w
^ "University of Toronto Gospel Choir". Utgc.org. http://www.utgc.org. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
^ [2]^{[dead link]}
^ Armstrong, Natalie (2008-03-06). "No Montreal Metro tribute for jazz great Peterson". Reuteurs. http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINN0619825120080306?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0.
^ "Put his name on the map, not a métro station". Montreal Gazette. 2008-03-06. http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/editorial/story.html?id=0cdc74a2-7c10-4ff7-9be1-875f94d266db.
^ Peritz, Ingrid (2008-03-06). "Peterson tribute proposal hits sour note". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080306.wpeterson06/BNStory/Entertainment/home.
^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (2008-03-07). "Oscar Peterson Proposal in Montreal Causes Flap". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/arts/music/07arts-OSCARPETERSO_BRF.html?ref=arts.
^ ""Celebrate the Jazz" - Oscar Peterson Public School Official Opening". York Region District School Board. http://www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/page.cfm?id=NW0904211. Retrieved 2009-11-03.

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Oscar Peterson

Academic offices
Preceded by Larry Clarke	Chancellor of York University 1991–1994	Succeeded by Arden Haynes

v t e Glenn Gould Prize laureates

R. Murray Schafer (1987) Yehudi Menuhin (1990) Oscar Peterson (1993) Toru Takemitsu (1996) Yo-Yo Ma (1999) Pierre Boulez (2002) André Previn (2005) José Antonio Abreu (2008) Leonard Cohen (2011)

Persondata
Name	Peterson, Oscar
Alternative names
Short description	jazz pianist, composer, university chancellor
Date of birth	August 15, 1925
Place of birth	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Date of death	December 23, 2007
Place of death	Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

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Fats Waller

Background information
Birth name	Thomas Wright Waller
Born	(1904-05-21)May 21, 1904
Origin	New York, New York, U.S.A.
Died	December 15, 1943(1943-12-15) (aged 39)
Genres	Dixieland, jazz, swing, stride, ragtime
Occupations	Pianist, singer, organist
Instruments	Piano, vocals, organ
Years active	1918–1943

Fats Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943), born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer.

1 Early life
2 Career
3 Death
4 Revival and awards
5 In popular culture
6 Key recordings
7 Filmography
8 References
9 External links

Early life [link]

Thomas Wright Waller was the youngest of four children born to Adaline Locket Waller and the Reverend Edward Martin Waller. He started playing the piano when he was six and graduated to the organ of his father's church four years later. At the age of fourteen he was playing the organ at Harlem's Lincoln Theater and within twelve months he had composed his first rag. Waller's first piano solos ("Muscle Shoals Blues" and "Birmingham Blues") were recorded in October 1922 when he was 18 years old.

He was the prize pupil, and later friend and colleague, of stride pianist James P. Johnson. Fats Waller was the son of a preacher and learned to play the organ in church with his mother. Overcoming opposition from his clergyman father, Waller became a professional pianist at 15, working in cabarets and theaters. In 1918 he won a talent contest playing Johnson's "Carolina Shout", a song he learned from watching a player piano play it.

Career [link]

Waller was one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe. He was also a prolific songwriter and many songs he wrote or co-wrote are still popular, such as "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Squeeze Me". Fellow pianist and composer Oscar Levant dubbed Waller "the black Horowitz".^[1] Waller composed many novelty swing tunes in the 1920s and 1930s and sold them for relatively small sums. When the compositions became hits, other songwriters claimed them as their own. Many standards are alternatively and sometimes controversially attributed to Waller.

The anonymous sleeve notes on the 1960 RCA (UK) album Handful of Keys state that Waller copyrighted over 400 new songs, many of which co-written with his closest collaborator Andy Razaf. Razaf described his partner as "the soul of melody... a man who made the piano sing... both big in body and in mind... known for his generosity... a bubbling bundle of joy".^{[citation needed]} Gene Sedric, a clarinetist who played with Waller on some of his 1930s recordings, is quoted in these same sleeve notes recalling Waller's recording technique with considerable admiration. "Fats was the most relaxed man I ever saw in a studio, and so he made everybody else relaxed. After a balance had been taken, we'd just need one take to make a side, unless it was a kind of difficult number."

	You Got Everything A Sweet Mama Needs But Me You Got Everything A Sweet Mama Needs But Me, sung by Sara Martin with piano accompaniment by Fats Waller in 1922.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

	'tain't Nobody's Bus'ness If I Do 'tain't Nobody's Bus'ness If I Do, sung by Sara Martin with piano accompaniment by Fats Waller in 1922.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Waller played with many performers, from Nat Shilkret (on Victor 21298-A) and Gene Austin to Erskine Tate to Adelaide Hall, but his greatest success came with his own five- or six-piece combo, "Fats Waller and his Rhythm".

His playing once put him at risk of injury. Waller was kidnapped in Chicago leaving a performance in 1926. Four men bundled him into a car and took him to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by Al Capone. Waller was ordered inside the building, and found a party in full swing. Gun to his back, he was pushed towards a piano, and told to play. A terrified Waller realized he was the "surprise guest" at Capone's birthday party, and took comfort that the gangsters didn't intend to kill him. According to rumor, Waller played for three days. When he left the Hawthorne Inn, he was very drunk, extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars in cash from Capone and other party-goers as tips.^[2]

In 1926, Waller began his recording association with Victor Records, his principal record company for the rest of his life, with the organ solos "St. Louis Blues" and his own composition, "Lenox Avenue Blues". Although he recorded with various groups, including Morris's Hot Babes (1927), Fats Waller's Buddies (1929) (one of the earliest interracial groups to record), and McKinney's Cotton Pickers (1929), his most important contribution to the Harlem stride piano tradition was a series of solo recordings of his own compositions: "Handful of Keys", "Smashing Thirds", "Numb Fumblin'", and "Valentine Stomp" (1929). After sessions with Ted Lewis (1930), Jack Teagarden (1931), and Billy Banks's Rhythmakers (1932), he began in May 1934 the voluminous series of recordings with a small band known as Fats Waller and his Rhythm. This six-piece group usually included Herman Autrey (sometimes replaced by Bill Coleman or John "Bugs" Hamilton), Gene Sedric or Rudy Powell, and Al Casey.

Waller wrote "Squeeze Me" (1919), "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now", "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1929), "Blue Turning Grey Over You", "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling" (1929), "Honeysuckle Rose" (1929), and "Jitterbug Waltz" (1942). He collaborated with the Tin Pan Alley lyricist Andy Razaf. He composed stride piano display pieces such as "Handful of Keys", "Valentine Stomp" and "Viper's Drag".^{[citation needed]}

He enjoyed success touring the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1930s. He appeared in one of the first BBC broadcasts. While in Britain, Waller also recorded a number of songs for EMI on their Compton Theatre organ located in their Abbey Road Studios in St John's Wood. He appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably "Stormy Weather" in 1943, which was released July 21, just months before his death. For the hit Broadway show, "Hot Chocolates", he and Razaf wrote "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue" (1929), which became a hit for Ethel Waters and Louis Armstrong.

Waller performed Bach organ pieces for small groups on occasion. Waller influenced many pre-bop jazz pianists; Count Basie and Erroll Garner have both reanimated his hit songs (notably, "Ain't Misbehavin'"). In addition to his playing, Waller was known for his many quips during his performances.

Between 1926 and the end of 1927, Waller recorded a series of pipe organ solo records. These represent the first time syncopated jazz compositions were performed on a full sized church organ.

Death [link]

Waller contracted pneumonia and died on a cross country train trip near Kansas City, Missouri on December 15, 1943, after making a final recording session with an interracial group in Detroit that included white trumpeter Don Hirleman. He was on his way back to Hollywood for more film work, after the smash success of "Stormy Weather". Ironically, as the train with the body of Waller stopped in Kansas City, so stopped a train with his dear friend Louis Armstrong on board.

Revival and awards [link]

A Broadway musical revue showcasing Waller tunes entitled Ain't Misbehavin' was produced in 1978. (The show and a star of the show, Nell Carter, won Tony Awards.) The show opened at the Longacre Theatre and ran for over 1600 performances. It was revived on Broadway in 1988. Performed by five African American actors, it included such songs as "Honeysuckle Rose", "This Joint Is Jumpin'", and "Ain't Misbehavin'".

Year Inducted	Title
2008	Gennett Records Walk of Fame
2005	Jazz at Lincoln Center: Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame
1993	Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
1989	Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame
1970	Songwriters Hall of Fame

Recordings of Fats Waller were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honour recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance".

Year Recorded	Title	Genre	Label	Year Inducted	Notes
Fats Waller: Grammy Hall of Fame Awards^[3]
1934	Honeysuckle Rose	Jazz (Single)	Victor	1998	—
1929	Ain't Misbehavin'	Jazz (Single)	Victor	1984	Listed in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2004.

In popular culture [link]

Subject of the Irish poet Michael Longley's "Elegy for Fats Waller".^[4]
Waller's organ music is prominently featured in the David Lynch film, Eraserhead.
He was caricatured in several Warner Brothers animated shorts, most notably Tin Pan Alley Cats.
In the 2008 film, Be Kind Rewind Fats Waller was a major theme and influence over the storyline.
Italian comics book artist Igort published a comic book about Waller entitled Fats Waller on Coconino Press in 2009.
Some of Waller's music (Jitterbug Waltz) is used in the video game series BioShock.

Key recordings [link]

Title	Recording Date	Recording Location	Company
African Ripples	3-11-1935	New York, New York	Bluebird B-10115
After You've Gone	3-21-1930	New York, New York	Victor 22371-B
A Handful Of Keys	3-1-1929	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
Ain't Misbehavin'	8-2-1929	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
All God's Chillun Got Wings	8-28-1938	London, England	Victor 27460
Alligator Crawl	11-16-1934	New York, New York	Bluebird B-10098
Baby Brown	3-11-1935	New York, New York	HMV
Baby, Oh! Where Can You Be?	8-29-1929	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
Basin Street Blues	3-11-1935	New York, New York	Bluebird B-10115
Because Of Once Upon a Time	3-11-1935	New York, New York	RFW
Believe It, Beloved	3-11-1935	New York, New York	HMV
Birmingham Blues	10-21-1922	New York, New York	Okeh 4757-B
Blue Black Bottom	2-16-1927	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
Blue Turning Gray Over You	3-11-1935	New York, New York	HMV
California, Here I Come	3-11-1935	New York, New York	HMV
Carolina Shout	5-13-1941	New York, New York	Victor
Clothes Line Ballet	3-11-1935	New York, New York	Victor 25015
Deep River	8-28-1938	London, England	Victor 27459
Goin' About	9-11-1929	New York, New York	Victor
Gladyse	8-2-1929	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
Go Down, Moses	8-28-1938	London, England	Victor 27458
Honeysuckle Rose	3-11-1935	New York, New York	HMV
I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby	3-11-1935	New York, New York	HMV
I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling	8-2-1929	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
Jitterbug Waltz	16-3-1942	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
Keeping Out Of Mischief Now	6-11-1937	New York, New York	Bluebird 10099
Lennox Avenue Blues	11-17-1922	Camden, New Jersey	Victor 20357-B
Lonesome Road	8-28-1938	London, England	Victor 27459
Minor Drag	3-1-1929	New York, New York	Victor
Messin' Around With The Blues Blues	1-14-1927	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
My Fate Is In Your Hands	12-4-1929	New York, New York	Victor
My Feelin's Are Hurt	12-4-1929	New York, New York	Victor
Numb Fumblin'	3-1-1929	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
Russian Fantasy	3-11-1935	New York, New York	HMV
Soothin' Syrup Stomp	1-14-1927	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
Sloppy Water Blues	1-14-1927	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
Smashing Thirds	9-24-1929	New York, New York	Victor
Sweet Savannah Sue	8-2-1929	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
Smashing Thirds	9-24-1929	New York, New York	Victor
The Rusty Pail	1-14-1927	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
That's All	8-29-1929	Camden, New Jersey	Victor 23260
Valentine Stomp	8-2-1929	Camden, New Jersey	Victor
Vipers Drag	11-16-1934	New York, New York	HMV
Zonky	3-11-1935	New York, New York	HMV

^[5]

Filmography [link]

Title	Director	Year
King of Burlesque	Sidney Lanfield	1936
Hooray for Love	Walter Lang	1935
Stormy Weather	Andrew L. Stone	1943

^[5]

References [link]

^ Palmer, David. All You Need Is Love. Viking Press. 1976. ISBN 0-670-11448-0.
^ Waller, Maurice and Anthony Calabrese. Fats Waller. Schirmer Books. 1977. ASIN B000JV3G1U.
^ Grammy Hall of Fame Database
^ http://beck.library.emory.edu/BelfastGroup/browse.php?id=longley1_10282#longley1_10271
^ ^a ^b Discography/Filmography

External links [link]

Fats Waller piano rollography
Red Hot Jazz, a selection of Fats Waller's Recordings
Fats Waller Forever, a digital exhibit of Fats Waller's musical career
Fats Waller memorabilia
Fats Waller, a tribute to the King of Stride Piano (French and English)
Fats Waller Stride Piano & Sheet Music
Allmusic
Fats Waller selection on a Grand Piano

Persondata
Name	Waller, Thomas Fats
Alternative names
Short description	American musician
Date of birth	May 21, 1904
Place of birth
Date of death	December 15, 1943
Place of death

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Hugues Panassié (left) and Tiny Grimes (right), New York, between 1946 and 1948.
Photograph by William P. Gottlieb.

Lloyd "Tiny" Grimes (July 7, 1916 – March 4, 1989)^[1] was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He was a member of the Art Tatum Trio from 1943 to 1944, was a backing musician on recording sessions, and later led his own bands, including a recording session with Charlie Parker. He is notable for playing the tenor guitar, a four-stringed electric instrument.

Biography [link]

Grimes was born in Newport News, Virginia, United States,^[1] and began his musical career playing drums and one-fingered piano. In 1938 he took up the electric 4-string tenor guitar. In 1940 he joined Cats and a Fiddle as guitarist and singer.^[1] In 1943 he joined the Art Tatum Trio as guitarist and made a number of recordings with Tatum. The early Tatum Trio recordings contain some of the more interesting early examples of Tiny Grimes’ guitar work.

After leaving Tatum, Grimes recorded with his own groups in New York and with a long list of leading musicians, including vocalist Billie Holiday. He made four recordings with his own group augmented with Charlie Parker that are considered excellent examples of early bebop jazz: "Tiny’s Tempo", "Red Cross", "Romance Without Finance", and "I’ll Always Love You Just The Same", the latter two featuring Grimes' singing. He was one of the 52d street regulars.

In the late 1940s, he had a hit on a jazzed-up version of "Loch Lomond", with the band billed as Tiny "Mac" Grimes and the Rocking Highlanders^[1] and appearing in kilts. This groups included top tenor saxman Red Prysock and singer Screaming Jay Hawkins. Grimes continued to lead his own groups into the later 1970s and he recorded on Prestige Records in a series of strong blues-based performances with Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Pepper Adams, Roy Eldridge and other noted players including, in 1977, Earl Hines.^[2]

With Paul Williams, he co-headlined the first Moondog Coronation Ball, promoted by Alan Freed in Cleveland, Ohio on March 21, 1952, often claimed as the first rock and roll concert. In 1953 he may have played on The Crows one-hit wonder, "Gee", that has been called the first original rock and roll record by an R&B group.^[3]

Grimes died in March 1989, in New York, from meningitis, at the age of 72.^[1]

References [link]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - accessed September 2010
^ "An Evening With Earl Hines": with Tiny Grimes, Hank Young, Bert Dollander and Marva Josie: Vogue VDJ-534, 1977
^ Jim Dawson, & Steve Propes (1992). What Was the First Rock'n'Roll Record. Boston & London: Faber & Faber. pp. 124–127. ISBN 0-571-12939-0.

External links [link]

Persondata
Name	Grimes, Tiny
Alternative names
Short description	American jazz and R&B guitarist
Date of birth	July 7, 1916
Place of birth	Newport News, Virginia, United States
Date of death	March 4, 1989
Place of death	New York, United States

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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_Grimes

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Slam Stewart
Slam Stewart, ca. 1946
Background information
Birth name	Leroy Elliott Stewart
Born	(1914-09-21)September 21, 1914
Origin	Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	December 10, 1987(1987-12-10) (aged 73)
Genres	Jazz
Instruments	Double bass

Leroy Eliot "Slam" Stewart (September 21, 1914 – December 10, 1987) was an African American jazz bass player whose trademark style was his ability to bow the bass (arco) and simultaneously hum or sing an octave higher. He was originally a violin player before switching to bass at the age of 20.

1 Biography
2 Audio samples
3 Discography
4 Sources
5 External links

Biography [link]

Stewart was born in Englewood, New Jersey in 1914. While attending the Boston Conservatory, he heard Ray Perry singing along with his violin. This gave him the inspiration to follow suit with his bass. In 1937 Stewart teamed with Slim Gaillard to form the novelty jazz act Slim and Slam. The duo's biggest hit was "Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy)" in 1938 (see 1938 in music).

Stewart found regular session work throughout the 1940s with Lester Young, Fats Waller, Coleman Hawkins, Erroll Garner, Art Tatum, Johnny Guarnieri, Red Norvo, Don Byas, the Benny Goodman Sextet, and Beryl Booker, among others. One of the most famous sessions he played on took place in 1945, when Stewart played with Dizzy Gillespie's group (which featured Charlie Parker). Out of those sessions came some of the classics of bebop such as "Groovin' High" and "Dizzy Atmosphere."

Throughout the rest of his career, Stewart worked regularly and employed his unique and enjoyable bass-playing style. He died in 1987 in Binghamton, New York.

Audio samples [link]

	"Groovin' High", written by Dizzy Gillespie and Frank Paparelli noicon This sample highlights Slam Stewart's style of bowing and simultaneously singing/humming one octave higher. Stewart's solo picks up at the end of a Charlie Parker saxophone solo, and leads into a trumpet solo by Dizzy Gillespie.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Discography [link]

File:Shut yo mouth.jpg

Slam Stewart and Major Holley's 1981 album Shut Yo Mouth!.

Compilations [link]

Bowin' Singin' Slam (1945)
Memorial Album 1914-1987 (1978)
1945-1946 (1997)
Jumpin' at the Deuces

Films [link]

Hellzapoppin' (1941)
Almost Married (1942)
Boy! What a Girl! (1947)

Persondata
Name	Stewart, Slam
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 21, 1914
Place of birth
Date of death	December 10, 1987
Place of death

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slam_Stewart

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

Tatum, Art Filmography

Born: ['1909-10-13']

Died: ['1956-11-05']

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