This is an essay I had to do for my jazz band class. We got to choose a jazz player of the instrument we play.
Art
Tatum: Too Fast to Keep Up!
Arthur “Art” Tatum, Jr. was born on
October 13, 1909 in Toledo, Ohio. Though he is one of the most influential
pianists, some of his peers did not consider Art Tatum an “official” jazz
pianist. He still was, and still is, one of the best jazz pianists of all time,
for his style is like no other.
In a small house in Toledo, Ohio,
Arthur Jr. and family lived there. At an early age, Tatum was known by his
family and neighbors to be able to play songs on the piano from just hearing
them at church or someplace. Hence, he was taught piano from his mother and
later taught at a specialized school for formal training.
Art
Tatum was fully blind in one eye and had partial sight in the other. It is not
certain what caused Art Tatum to become blind, but in James Lester’s Too Marvelous For Words, Art Tatum’s
blindness might be caused “from impairment due to early bouts of
measles, scarlet fever and diphtheria, development of thick cataracts, and
exposure of his eyes to bright sunlight by his mother” (Tatum, Art). His sight partially came
back around age 10, but at age 20, he was mugged, resulting in being fully
blind in one eye and 75% blind in the other. This resulted in him having to
read his music by reading Braille while playing. Although Tatum made jokes
about himself being blind, saying it was caused from his athletic prowess, he
never let his blindness stop him from his destiny and main interest.
Throughout
his schooldays at Jefferson School in Toledo and later School for the Blind in
Columbus, he performed wherever and whenever he could. From diligence,
compassion, and musical playing at school functions to speakeasies and clubs,
his piano-playing intelligence attracted the attention of a growing number of
musicians.
Cornetist/writer
Rex Stewart partially explained Tatum’s playing: "He constantly manipulated a
filbert nut through his fingers, so quickly that if you tried to watch him, the
vision blurred. He worked with one nut until it became sleek and shiny."
Even Art Tatum’s private piano teacher, Overton G. Rainey, said that Tatum
should pursue the career of a classical pianist. However, Art Tatum, inspired
by Fats Waller, preferred the jazz style.
His style was based on
other famous jazz pianist, Fats Waller; he liked his strides. This was the
starting point of his style. Art Tatum said, "Fats, that's where I come
out of and, man, that's quite a place to come from. (“Biography”)” Fats Waller
also liked Art Tatum. One time, Tatum dropped in to hear Fats Waller
play. Fats Waller said at the beginning of the show, “I just play the piano,
but god [referring to Art Tatum] is in the house tonight."
His
style of playing was very original. It is said that he was so original that he
re-composed everything he played. Art Tatum played with a swinging motion and a
futuristic style of improvisation. The music he played was authentic to him
because of his embellishments. He is most known for his runs in his playing. “He reharmonized melodies by altering the underlying chord
structure, used innovative chord extensions, and dissonance to his benefit”
(“15 Most Influential Jazz Artists”). For
improvisations, he would insert new chord sequences, with one on every beat for
1-2 measures. He also developed a style by copying melodies, a practice used by
modern jazz musicians. His left-handed playing was similar to stride, but he
was best known for his unusual chord progressions.
What made his music even
more astounding was that he had an extremely calm character as his fingers
“raced up and down the ivories”. People said his playing was so unworldly and
unreal since he had such a high standard. However, according to a radio interview
with "Voice of America" host Willis Conover, Tatum was never
satisfied with his playing.
Many people thought they heard two
pianists when they heard Tatum play. When Oscar Peterson first
heard him play, he thought there were two pianists playing, and he considered
him the best instrumentalist of all time. However, many people think that he is
“too decorative” when he played. People thought he just added too much in his
playing. These add-ons were the essence of his style-it is what made Art Tatum
Art Tatum. Tatum did change his playing on every song he played, however. Ray Spencer said that
Tatum constantly was "refining and honing down after each
performance until an ideal version remained needing no further adjustments” (“Biography”).
Many people said he influenced the bebop version of jazz. During
this time in the 1950s, Art Tatum continued to play in his stride style. In
1953, Tatum made a record of 114 songs. Although the songs were a bit hasty,
they were made into 13 albums.
Art Tatum’s producer Norman Granz, decided to create an all-star
ensemble including Art Tatum. During these sessions, many musicians were just as amazed at
the amount of beer Tatum drank as they were about the amount of musical
virtuosity continued to stream out of Tatum's hands. “Although his excessive
drinking didn't affect his playing, it did unfortunately affect his health. By
1952, Tatum began showing evidence of uremia, a toxic blood condition resulting
from a severe kidney disease. On November 5, Tatum died at age 47” (Murphy,
“Jazz Profiles from NPR: Art Tatum).
Even though Tatum’s career was cut
short, he was, and still is, considered one of the most influential pianists of
all time. Once, 9 rare albums of Art Tatum were
released, and one collector said that they are the “equivalent of discovering
unpublished Shakespeare plays”. A few
years ago, a young MIT grad student invented a term that's now in common usage
in the field of computational musicology: The tatum. It means "the
smallest perceptual time unit in music." No jazz music book is complete
without an Art Tatum piece. Although his life was very short, maybe even a
“tatum”, he wil not be forgotten.
Works Cited
"Biography." duke.edu.
Duke University, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. <http://www.duke.edu/~njh3/biography.html>.
Burnett,
John. "Art Tatum: A Talent Never to be Duplicated." NPR Music.
NPR, 5 Nov. 2006. Web. 23 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6434701>.
ClassyKoehler, . "15 Most
Influential Jazz Artists." Listserve. N.p., 26 Feb. 2010. Web. 23
Jan. 2012.
<http://listverse.com/2010/02/27/15-most-influential-jazz-artists/>.
Murphy, Molly. "NPR's Jazz Profiles: Art Tatum ." npr.com.
NPR, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. <http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/tatum.html>.
"Tatum, Art." enotes.com. N.p., n.d. Gale
Cengage. Web. 7 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.enotes.com/tatum-art-reference/tatum-art>.
