Arthur Art Tatum, Jr. (October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956). I must confess that, aside from his exquisite meeting with Ben Webster, I was pretty cool on Tatum until about 5 years ago. Sure from a technical standpoint he was without peer, his harmonic innovations were an important seed of bebop and hes the granddaddy of all reharmonizing pianists, but his blinding virtuosity always seemed to sacrifice the song itself, and I always preferred players like Teddy Wilson and Hank Jones. Then something clicked and I was able to accept Tatum on his own terms. One aesthetic, Ive come to realize, does not negate others. So now I dig Tatum and can allow myself to be awed by him as were so many pianists, including Waller (God is in the house) and Vladimir Horowitz. I was able to track down 4 videos of Tatum on YouTube, 2 of which I was previously unfamiliar with. The most often seen one is of his trio in the 40s with Tiny Grimes playing Tinys Exercise at the 52nd Street club The Three Deuces. Id previously only seen a short version, under 2 minutes, but it appears that a reference reel exists with further footage (see comments). First off, heres his arrangement of Yesterdays, solo, from 1954 (supposedly on the Spike Jones TV program). https://youtube/watch?v=q0QD558TWSQ
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:56:16 +0000
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