Art Tatum: his life as a jazz pianist and his utilization of different jazz styles
by Elliott Hayes

Art Tatum was a musician unparalleled during his life.  Jazz and classical musicians alike were awed by his technical mastery, his interpretive genius and his overall humble attitude.  Some consider him to be the greatest jazz pianist of all time.  Although Tatum was visually impaired at birth and afflicted with the condition until the end of his life, he was an inspiration to both musicians and non-musicians.  Tatum's legacy lives through his collected recordings, which allow musicians and scholars to decipher his original and complicated style. Because his transcendental technique, progressive style and musicianship were incomparable, his influence continues to this day.

Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1909, Tatum's life began as jazz came out of its infant stages.  His parents, both amateur musicians, noticed his talent early and sought to provide him with music lessons.[1] Tatum began his first lessons in music at the Columbus School for the Blind in 1924.  While his first instrument was the piano, he also studied violin.  His time at Columbus was short-lived, and in 1925 he enrolled at the Toledo Conservatory.  Here Art received formal training in piano, studying with Overton Rainey, a partially blind musician who favored classical piano training over jazz.  Tatum's had a bad habit of tapping his feet against any piano he played to keep a rhythm, Rainey always criticized Art.[2] Tatum later gave Rainey credit for being a major influence on his success.  Many believe, however, that Tatum's ability at the piano derived from raw talent.[3]

When Tatum was born with cataracts on his eyes, his parents knew that he would have vision problems throughout his life.  As a child, Tatum underwent numerous surgeries to improve his sight.  The surgeries notwithstanding, as a young man, he had only limited vision in both eyes.  Having been attacked by a burglar at the age of 16, he lost all but a quarter of his vision in one eye.[4] Although he remained handicapped for the rest of his life, he never showed signs of hardship or self-pity.[5]

Showing great musical talent as a child, Art Tatum found jazz before adulthood.  Possessing an amazing aural ability to identify any notes he heard, he was able to play and sing church hymns and popular songs after hearing them only once.  While his early teachers introduced him to some classical music, he was more influenced by the music he heard on the radio and in night clubs.[6] At age 16, he found his first playing job with a band in Toledo. He then began to work in local clubs.

As Tatum worked his way up the jazz ranks of Ohio, word spread about his amazing talent.[7] Such musicians as the pianist-composer Duke Ellington, the saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, and saxophonist Earle Warren witnessed the up-and-coming Art Tatum in Toledo.  Venturing from New York to hear Tatum in Toledo, band leader Paul Whiteman proclaimed him a genius.  Hawkins was so moved by Tatum's playing that he altered his own improvisatory style.[8]

In the early 1930's, Tatum's career skyrocketed after catching the attention from some of the great jazz pianists of the era.  Tatum began to feel pressure to leave Toledo and find a better locale for his playing.  Duke Ellington was one of the first musicians to suggest to Tatum that he should relocate to New York City.[9] Tatum's move to New York in 1932 was brief, but there he made an impression on the greatest known jazz pianist of the day, Fats Waller.  Waller set up a piano duel in a Harlem night club, in which Tatum was to match his talent with other pianists.  James P. Johnson, one of the dueling pianists, later commented on Tatum's rendition of Vincent Yeo-man's Tea for Two: "I guess that was the first time I ever heard it really played." Waller would later reveal in an interview with the New York Times: "That Tatum: he was just too good ... He had too much technique. When that man turns on the powerhouse, don't no one play him down. He sounds like a brass band."[10]

Many prominent musicians of the era were great admirers of Tatum.  He even caught the attention of such great living piano virtuosos as Vladimir Horowitz, Leopold Godowsky and Serge Rachmaninoff.  Horowitz made numerous visits to nightclubs where Tatum was playing and even went in disguise to avoid recognition.[11] The two pianists admired one another immensely, and Tatum attended live Horowitz recitals frequently in New York.  Many of the great pianists who heard Tatum play were mainly interested in his technique and ability to improvise.[12]

[1] James Lester. Too Marvelous for Words: The Life and Genius of Art Tatum. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. 15.

[2] JL, 33-36.

[3] Robert L Doerschuk. 88. The Giants of Jazz Piano. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. 2001. 61.

[4] James Lester. Too Marvelous for Words: The Life and Genius of Art Tatum. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. 21.

[5] Robert L. Doerschuk. 88. The Giants of Jazz Piano. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2001. 60.

[6] JL, 35.

[7] RLD, 61.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Robert L. Doerschuk. 88. The Giants of Jazz Piano. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2001. 61.

[10] Maurice Waller and A. Calabrese. Fats Waller. New York: Schirmer Books. 1977.  96-98.

[11] Steven Mayer. "Tatum meets Horowitz." Keyboard Classics. 10, no. 2. 1990:12.

[12] James Lester. Too Marvelous for Words: the life and genius of Art Tatum. New York: Oxford University Press. 1994. 13.