Art Tatum
Play Radio
Listen to Art Tatum Radio,
featuring artists like Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, Lester Young and more…
-
Search on Spotify
Yes, it scrobbles! Learn more
1,566,577 plays (169,313 listeners)
Toledo, Ohio, USA (1927 – 1956)
Arthur Tatum, Jr. born 13 October 1909 in Toledo, Ohio, USA (death 5 November 1956) was a famous American jazz pianist known for his virtuosic playing and creative improvisation begun around 1927.
Tatum drew inspiration from his contemporaries James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, and had a great influence on other famous jazz pianists, such as Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Chick Corea, and Oscar Peterson. Saxophonist Charlie Parker took his first job in New York as a dishwasher where Tatum played, just for the experience of hearing Tatum’s harmonic inventions.
Tatum was widely recognized among his colleagues as the most gifted jazz pianist alive, some going so far as to say he was one of the greatest pianists of any genre. Such classical luminaries as Vladimir Horowitz and Sergei Rachmaninov greatly admired his technique. Unusually for a jazz musician, Tatum rarely abandoned the original melodic lines of the songs he played, preferring innovative reharmonization (changing the chord progressions that supported the melodies). He also had a penchant for filling spaces within melodies with his trademark runs and other embellishments, which some critics considered gratuitous and “unjazzlike.”
Tatum was legally blind, although he had limited vision in one eye.
Tatum drew inspiration from his contemporaries James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, and had a great influence on other famous jazz pianists, such as Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Chick Corea, and Oscar Peterson. Saxophonist Charlie Parker took his first job in New York as a dishwasher where Tatum played, just for the experience of hearing Tatum’s harmonic inventions.
Tatum was widely recognized among his colleagues as the most gifted jazz pianist alive, some going so far as to say he was one of the greatest pianists of any genre. Such classical luminaries as Vladimir Horowitz and Sergei Rachmaninov greatly admired his technique. Unusually for a jazz musician, Tatum rarely abandoned the original melodic lines of the songs he played, preferring innovative reharmonization (changing the chord progressions that supported the melodies). He also had a penchant for filling spaces within melodies with his trademark runs and other embellishments, which some critics considered gratuitous and “unjazzlike.”
Tatum was legally blind, although he had limited vision in one eye.
Shouts:
68 shouts
Top Albums
-
Piano Starts Here
Art Tatum
Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $6.99
- 7digital $9.99
- iTunes $5.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $6.99
- eBay Search
-
Art Tatum Solos (1940)
Art Tatum Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
The Complete Pablo Solo Masterpieces
Art Tatum Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $70.16
- 7digital $89.99
- Juno $15.99
- iTunes $89.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $70.16
- eBay Search
-
Standards
Art Tatum Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $7.99
- 7digital $9.99
- iTunes $8.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $4.99
- eBay Search
Shoutbox
-
VinnyMcFly wrote:
i know tatum is immortal but the similar artists are nothing to slump at either.
-
Acquisition wrote:
the similar artists section of this page shouldn't exist, because there is absolutely no match for tatum
-
JBThazard wrote:
v I get a feeling that's mostly the case.
-
outrenoir wrote:
I don't understand how Parker's a household name but Tatum seems virtually unknown outside of jazz aficionados (where he's hugely revered). Is it just bop=modern, everything else=irrelevant or what?
-
fowlhuman wrote:
Love, love, love!
-
Druid66 wrote:
Man played like he had at least four hands!
-
merrari wrote:
Tatum Vs. Chopin = battle royale I'd pay to see [3]
-
GeorgesDanton wrote:
i would love to see him and Chopin go head to head in a piano battle [2]
-
iI_v_Ii wrote:
monster
-
PappaWheelie wrote:
With Django being a distant 2nd, tatum is without question, the greatest _muscian_ to ever have lived.
-
Milkshake8 wrote:
Nice. Cool story.
-
whylessness wrote:
"One time in 1938 Tatum dropped in to hear Waller play at a club. By way of introduction Waller told the audience, "I just play the piano, but God is in the house tonight.""
-
Ikresusto wrote:
Great music! [2]
-
IamFlood wrote:
This man could, how do you say, tinkle on the ivories.
-
Tweed15 wrote:
i would love to see him and Chopin go head to head in a piano battle
-
airman13579 wrote:
best pianist ever? right next to my boy rachmaninoff!
-
AlexeiKolyaev wrote:
он такой.. быстрый
-
ShaniaEve wrote:
Great music!
-
prdrums77 wrote:
Art Tatum ALMOST makes me proud to be from Toledo.
-
progtrance7 wrote:
Immortal master
Videos
-
Play
Humouresque
4 shouts
-
Play
Ain't Misbehavin' (1949)
-
Play
Out Of Nowhere (1949)
1 shout
-
Play
"Moonglow"
1 shout
Listening Now
Top Listeners
-
ziggy_marley
Top Listener
-
xascavenger
Top Listener
-
gray_hat
Top Listener
-
Phineas__Gage
Top Listener
Recent Activity
-
and 10 other people added Art Tatum to their libraries. 7 hours ago
-
dontboreme tagged Art Tatum with piano and jazz. last week
-
galerieheeze added Art Tatum to galerieheeze’s library. last week
-
h1ddenm4n tagged Art Tatum with swing, jazz piano, piano and one other tag. last week
-
h1ddenm4n, eryrog, maravilla77 and 4 other people added Art Tatum to their libraries. last week
-
SantaEvita tagged Art Tatum with swing, jazz piano, piano and one other tag. last week
-
SantaEvita, chaindeath, gseltzer49 and 3 other people added Art Tatum to their libraries. last week
-
Alfredo_Poo tagged Art Tatum with jazz piano and jazz. last month
-
talges, Papryykaa, kiushin456 and 3 other people added Art Tatum to their libraries. last month
-
brok3n_gl0aming tagged Art Tatum with piano and jazz. last month
Related Journals
-
Benny Carter broadcast
by Uhwelluh |
12 Jan 2012
-
2011 - a look back
by Stokka |
6 Jan 2012
| 2 comments
-
Cole Porter broadcast
by Uhwelluh |
7 Sep 2011
Groups (36)
-
Jazz
6,661 members
-
Jazz Piano
2,534 members
-
Blue Note Records
1,863 members
-
Swing
952 members
-
Jazz Brasil
850 members
More Information
- Links
- Labels
Email Newsletter
Get exclusive tour, release & promotion updates on Art Tatum from Universal Music.
