When was art tatum born

Art Tatum was enrolled at the Columbus School for the Blind in where he studied braille as well as music. He also studied piano at the Jefferson School under Overton G.

Rainey who taught him classical piano. He then progressed towards having his radio programme. His first gig was playing at the Waiters and Bellmen's Club where he began making a name for himself. Soon he had been heard by musicians such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. Tatum was discovered by the singer Adelaide Hall in when she heard him playing in Toledo while she was on a world tour.

She subsequently hired him as one of her pianists, and in , Tatum accompanied her to New York City. She introduced him on stage at the Lafayette Theatre, and he also accompanied her on four recordings. His performances were hailed for their technical proficiency and creativity, which set a new standard for jazz piano virtuosity. Tatum was born in Toledo, Ohio , on October 13, His mother, Mildred Hoskins, was born in Martinsville, West Virginia, around , and in Toledo was a domestic worker.

His father, Arthur Tatum Sr. The couple had four children; Art was the oldest to live, and was followed by Arline nine years later and by Karl after another two years. Karl went to college and became a social worker. From infancy, Tatum had impaired vision. Several explanations for this have been posited, most involving cataracts.

He learned tunes from the radio, records, and by copying piano roll recordings. In an interview as an adult, Tatum rejected the story that his playing style had developed because he had found ways to reproduce piano roll recordings made by two pianists.

He developed a very fast playing style, without losing accuracy. Although piano was the most obvious application of his mental and physical skills, he also had an encyclopedic memory for Major League Baseball statistics.

He was probably there for less than a year before transferring to the Toledo School of Music. He had formal piano lessons with Overton G. Rainey, who was also visually impaired, probably taught the classical tradition, as he did not improvise and discouraged his students from playing jazz.

By the time Tatum was a teenager, he was asked to play at various social events. Tatum drew inspiration from the pianists James P. Tatum identified Waller as his biggest influence, but according to pianist Teddy Wilson and saxophonist Eddie Barefield his favorite jazz pianist was Hines. He bought and listened to records by Hines and practiced improvising with them.

This group began simply by jamming at Lovejoy's Chicken Shack in Los Angeles then toured and recorded together intermittently for several years with a variety of personnel. Everett Barksdale principally replaced Grimes, and Stewart moved in and out of the group.

Unfortunately, from to Tatum recorded very little in the commercial studios. Moreover, playing opportunities in general were not plentiful. This barren period coincided with the advent of bebop's popularity. Even though Tatum had long-since pioneered in the utilization the chord substitutions, the long eighth- and sixteenth-note runs and the harmonies used in bop, he was regarded by the public and some musicians as old hat.

However, the leading lights of bebop, such as trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, altoist Charlie Parker and pianist Bud Powell are widely quoted as having had great respect for the master. As Lester quotes Gillespie: "First you speak of Art Tatum, then take a long deep breath, and you speak of the other pianists. From a recently uncovered trial solo pressing of "Tiger Rag" in to a monumental series produced by Norman Granz, Tatum has left us ample recorded testimony of his greatness.

The first released records with Tatum were those he made with Hall in August, His first solo recordings, "Tea for Two," "St. Louis Blues," "Tiger Rag" and "Sophisticated Lady," made in March, , were greeted with awe by the music fraternity. From this point on, though with notable time lapses, Tatum was recorded in a wide variety of settings including with his own small combos and all-star groups, but primarily as a soloist. The most memorable group of these was conceived by recording executive Norman Granz, originator of "Jazz at the Philharmonic" concerts and recordings, which began in December, Granz sequestered Tatum in a studio with a good piano, and in two days had produced 70 solo tunes, most of them on the first take.

In the ensuing months of , leading up to Tatum's death, the output reached solo cuts. Of these recordings Schuller observed, "Even the least of these belong to Tatum's mature work, and the best of them may be numbered amongst his very finest life-long achievements These late performances show that Tatum was growing musically to the very end.

I think, if I am ever remembered for any meaningful contribution to jazz it was presenting permanently for the future the incredible artistry of the greatest instrumental soloist in the history of jazz, Art Tatum.

Critics are almost universal in their praise of Tatum through the years. Many have attempted to describe the Tatum style and sound. For example, Whitney Balliett describes his technique as "prodigious, even virtuosic No matter how fast he played or how intense and complex his harmonic inventions became, his attack kept its commanding clarity. 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 Rainey; played at church, neighborhood functions and local clubs, c. Spellman, A. Periodicals Down Beat, March Keyboard, October Mississippi Rag, April New York Times, November 6, New Yorker, September 9, Cancel or. The profoundly beautiful music, the brilliant technique, and the elegant playfulness all made a combination that was at once endearing, fascinating, and awe-inspiring.

He was my dad's favorite pianist as well. One day, during my last year of high school, about the time I was fully beginning to understand what Tatum was about, my dad came through the room while I was listening to a Tatum recording.