An essay on Art Tatum, pianist: Too Fast to Keep Up!

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>.