A short Toledo Stories Documentary about one of the best Jazz pianist's of all time. DISCLAIMER- No copyright infringement intended.Credit goes to the makers and sponsors of the documentary.
Oscar Peterson on Art Tatum: "Peterson recalled: "I guess I was about 10 or 11 when my Dad thought I was getting too pleased with myself. So he brought home a friend with some Art Tatum records." One of the records was Tatum's "Tiger Rag". Tatum's improvising was so complex and multi-layered that Peterson thought there was more than one pianist involved. "And when I found there wasn't, I was so discouraged that I didn't play for a month. When I heard him live? Same thing. Only worse. No one plays like Art Tatum."
I was in Paris on a business trip. Saturday night I went to a jazz bar. The trio was named for the pianist and man oh man he was excellent. The band took a break and he and I chatted briefly he was happy to talk with a yank as he had lived in NYC for several years. I told him I was a liflelong jazz fan and that I hear some Art Tatum flair in is playing he got excited and told me Tatum was his idol and he'd written a book about Tatum. Fun night.
+bob tucker I'm from the Cleveland area and hadn't heard of him until I took History of Jazz at UT. Here I am in Japan 10 years later searching for Art Tatum videos on TH-cam...
Regarding the comparisons between Oscar and Art - I have studied many transcriptions of both men and have a couple of dozen albums by each of them. Oscar was a better and more sympathetic accompanist, in my opinion; a better boogie woogie pianist, and more well-rounded (although most of this last point can be put down to living later and far longer than Tatum.) Despite all this I still think Tatum was easily the superior pianist. His articulation is the main difference. It is truly incredible. Tatum's articulation was beyond that of any other jazz pianist and on par with the very best classical pianists. Also, his left hand was extraordinary. He could out-stride anyone on his day, and play extremely quick single note lines with all of the power and conviction he displayed with his right hand. Oscar had a tremendously dexterous left hand too, but he couldn't stride anywhere near as well. It just comes down to how many hours were spent on which discipline. Listen to 'Tatum Pole Boogie' from Tatum's PIANO STARTS HERE album. His left hand at that tempo is frankly quite sloppy, by his standards. Oscar absolutely dominated boogie woogie, at any tempo you like. The opposite is true when the left hand starts striding. Tatum is miles in front. In fact, Tatum only begins to sounds genuinely comfortable in the last couple of choruses of 'Tatum Pole Boogie', when the left hand starts striding. Besides his superior articulation, his harmonic palette was extraordinary. Some of his voicings were just profound - transcendental almost. Listen to "Going Home" from THE COMPETE CAPITOL RECORDINGS (volume 2). His understanding of harmony was beyond everyone else's, and I'm far from alone on that opinion. Benny Green (a protege of Peterson) agrees with me. As does McCoy Tyner. Finally, the lines Tatum would pull out over complex II-V-I passages. Listen to his 'Georgia On My Mind' from the posthumously released GOD IS IN THE HOUSE album. He jumps all over the key circle, playing the hippest substitutions, effortlessly, while swinging his ass off, and playing the most incredibly imaginative melodic lines over these bent changes. I've never heard Peterson display a mastery of harmony that approached what Tatum could do.
Wil Sargisson well-put. I wish there were slowed-down multimedia explications of what the hell Art Tatum is doing, because I'm shaking my head in disbelief from his last bar and he's already gone somewhere else.
Wil Sargisson I don't compare greatness especially black greatness, as ppl always have black folk in competition, with each other I could never compare these two brothers I just enjoy the music stand amazed how they could endure the struggles, & be able to find the time to sit down and practice relentless hours to become such great musicians🎹🎶✊🏿
just discovered him, know nothing of piano, but this music just floored me.found it on a discarded cd lot on the side of the road... what a treasure! im broke as , but don't care, i have this music! thanks for explanation!
Art Tatum, influenced my grandmother, Stenis O'Lavski to play the piano, especially the "Stride Style." Don't let her beauty fool you; she was another Art Tatum when it came to, "Stride Style Piano playing..."
Thanks so much for posting this. Wow! I never thought I'd get to see Art Tatum play. This really makes my day. Words fail, so just--thank you again and again.
To watch Art Tatum play the piano defies logic. Critics say that he uses flourishes to much and that he "doesn't play with the band." Funny, I never heard of Art Tatum until I took a Jazz Appreciation class in community college. To read about how fast Tatum played and to view it on video - is mind-boggling!
Art Tatum was more than a fast playing piano player. He had a wonderful understanding of harmony and counter rhythm, knew many pieces by classical composers, as the best Jazz player did. My mother was a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She had had a music lesson with Billy Mayrel when she had her 13th Birthday with which she was thrilled. She loved the records made by Art Tatum and felt he was the very best jazz piano player. Then, when she heard that Art Tatum was coming to London she contacted him and arranged for her fellow students to come and listen at a night club. They all sat down in anticipation like the music students did in the film, "The Red Shoes". Art came in and began to play but then he suddenly got up and went off stage. My mother got up and asked the manager what the matter was. He said that Art was not used to people continuing to talk as he played. My mother persuaded the manager to let her go back stage and see him. She knocked on his door and came in and introduced herself to him. "Please Mr Tatum, will you come back and play. I have all my friend from the Royal Academy of Music out there dying to hear you play. I love playing jazz too and we all think you are a genius." So he came back and she befriended him and his wife, and would take them around London. He gave her a signed photo which she always treasured. What people did not understand was that his music was packed full of serious music, harmonies and unusual kinds of rhythm and counterpoint that was considered very seriously by serious musicians. My mother arranged for him to perform in the Royal Academy in front of professors and afterwards said that he had a vert great talent. Cynthia McLaglen
@@rayjr62 i can do that watch me doing the stride of i know that you know and watch my last video is a tribute to him playing the whole thing very difficult only 3 videos on youtube of that song i play the piano since 1984 th-cam.com/video/yIvKKiHmObU/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/e_562_Y3c6I/w-d-xo.html
i can do that watch me doing the stride of i know that you know and watch my last video is a tribute to him playing the whole thing very difficult only 3 videos on youtube of that song i play the piano since 1984 th-cam.com/video/yIvKKiHmObU/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/e_562_Y3c6I/w-d-xo.html
Art Tatum was incredible! What a time it must have been to have heard him and the other great musicians of his day. A time when real music was played by musicians that pushed themselves to excellence! Today there aren't many super famous musicians. I n my day I guess there were many famous rock guitarist, drummers, bassists that were famous. However, today is the day of the pop star. The formula pop star to put it best. It must be terrible to be a musician in a back up band for these horrible pop singers! Probably even frustrating and demoralizing. However, there are still some wonderful and influential musicians today, even if they're not all super famous like Chris Botty, and yes they all come from the jazz world.
I wish I was able to have met Mr.Art Tatum but I was fortunate enough to have met Mr.Tiny Grimes before he passed JUST TO SHAKE HIS HAND WAS ENOUGH FOR ME.
A light that burns Twice as bright burns half as long & Art you burned so very very Brightly! Baffling & extremely Surprised that no Acknowledgment of Art Tatum for Black History Month ever??
Quennel Gaskin right here folks. For those that don't know him. Look him up on TH-cam. You will think that you have heard Tatum in the present. But wait??? You have ladies and gentlemen. You have.......
Buddy deFranco was right about Art Tatum's piano playing. I have never been able to listen to him without stopping what I was doing and concentrating on the music. It's not something that you can listen to while you're doing something else. It's so dense and full of musical ideas, that it demands your full attention. My father was a pianist, I started learning piano at age 3, I went to University to study music and I played professionally for many years. If I have to stop to pay attention, the average person doesn't have a chance.
Thanks Vladinho7 . As well as Gullivior there is a poster called Credman who also has a great amount of Tatum. Excited you agree with me and just hope someone has the knowledge and contacts to hopefully follow this up. Fingers crossed !!
Yeah those guys have some cool videos and posts. Maybe we should ask them? No problems. You are correct about this. I just wonder if it is indeed from that Dorsey film. I have not watched it though. Perhaps it is a deleted scene from the Dorsey movie? or movie some archival footage? It would be awesome to see the original :)
I think this contains hitherto unseen live footage of Art. At 22.00 precisely - blink and you miss it - a well known image appears but this one MOVES. The music playing in the background is from the Dorsey film and is a composition of Art,s called ,I believe, turquoise. Susy Alphanso - have you got a historic live piece of the great man ? Your piece says "Film footage courtesy of Time Life Inc." Has anyone access to this ? GULLIVIOR have you seen this ? I appreciate I may be wrong about all this but I would like to see comments from those of you who know more about Art than I do !! Any new footage of Art is so preciuos.
I believe your right. I have not seen that footage anywhere other than this documentary. I have only seen it as a still picture around the internet. It does appear to be from that film, The Fabulous Dorsey's. It would be cool to see the original footage. Good spotting :)
It is said that he learned on one of those self-playing stride pianos. He would play the bass part, the chords and the melody all at once while the piano was playing itself. That's how he learned.
Where is Art Tatum himself in this documentary? Where is him playing? Looks like the authors couldn't coup with the fact that the God was black. Seriously, two white nobody were shown playing, and AT hands twinkled for a few seconds. What is this? Shame on them.
Peterson recalled: "I guess I was about 10 or 11 when my Dad thought I was getting too pleased with myself. So he brought home a friend with some Art Tatum records." One of the records was Tatum's "Tiger Rag". Tatum's improvising was so complex and multi-layered that Peterson thought there was more than one pianist involved. "And when I found there wasn't, I was so discouraged that I didn't play for a month. When I heard him live? Same thing. Only worse. No one plays like Art Tatum."
Oscar Peterson on Art Tatum: "Peterson recalled: "I guess I was about 10 or 11 when my Dad thought I was getting too pleased with myself. So he brought home a friend with some Art Tatum records." One of the records was Tatum's "Tiger Rag". Tatum's improvising was so complex and multi-layered that Peterson thought there was more than one pianist involved. "And when I found there wasn't, I was so discouraged that I didn't play for a month. When I heard him live? Same thing. Only worse. No one plays like Art Tatum."
2 months
The strange thing about this film is the fluent and precise nature of the language used by the interviewees. People no longer speak with this clarity.
Charles peterson - Very good point.
yep...
Something I've noticed (and grieved) as well.
Neither did the first guy in the documentary 😂😂
Ebonics saved my ears to hear him under the mumble😂
I was in Paris on a business trip. Saturday night I went to a jazz bar. The trio was named for the pianist and man oh man he was excellent. The band took a break and he and I chatted briefly he was happy to talk with a yank as he had lived in NYC for several years. I told him I was a liflelong jazz fan and that I hear some Art Tatum flair in is playing he got excited and told me Tatum was his idol and he'd written a book about Tatum. Fun night.
I was born and raised in Toledo and you would be amazed how many people have no idea who the great Art Tatum was!
bob tucker that sucks!
+bob tucker I'm from the Cleveland area and hadn't heard of him until I took History of Jazz at UT. Here I am in Japan 10 years later searching for Art Tatum videos on TH-cam...
Because Jazz musicians takes back seat to more popular Rock stars. The more popular form gets all the attention
really sad
But they know who Dre is. Sad stuff.
There will never be another like Art Tatum.
oscar peterson was a genius too
Art Tatum was a true trailblazer; a genius at least 50 years ahead of his time for the general public to truly appreciate his incomparable talent.
I'm taking piano lessons mainly because of Art Tatum, he was simply the best!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for this. A fantastic film of a man who is still remembered as the greatest piano player ever.
Regarding the comparisons between Oscar and Art - I have studied many transcriptions of both men and have a couple of dozen albums by each of them. Oscar was a better and more sympathetic accompanist, in my opinion; a better boogie woogie pianist, and more well-rounded (although most of this last point can be put down to living later and far longer than Tatum.) Despite all this I still think Tatum was easily the superior pianist. His articulation is the main difference. It is truly incredible. Tatum's articulation was beyond that of any other jazz pianist and on par with the very best classical pianists. Also, his left hand was extraordinary. He could out-stride anyone on his day, and play extremely quick single note lines with all of the power and conviction he displayed with his right hand. Oscar had a tremendously dexterous left hand too, but he couldn't stride anywhere near as well. It just comes down to how many hours were spent on which discipline. Listen to 'Tatum Pole Boogie' from Tatum's PIANO STARTS HERE album. His left hand at that tempo is frankly quite sloppy, by his standards. Oscar absolutely dominated boogie woogie, at any tempo you like. The opposite is true when the left hand starts striding. Tatum is miles in front. In fact, Tatum only begins to sounds genuinely comfortable in the last couple of choruses of 'Tatum Pole Boogie', when the left hand starts striding.
Besides his superior articulation, his harmonic palette was extraordinary. Some of his voicings were just profound - transcendental almost. Listen to "Going Home" from THE COMPETE CAPITOL RECORDINGS (volume 2). His understanding of harmony was beyond everyone else's, and I'm far from alone on that opinion. Benny Green (a protege of Peterson) agrees with me. As does McCoy Tyner.
Finally, the lines Tatum would pull out over complex II-V-I passages. Listen to his 'Georgia On My Mind' from the posthumously released GOD IS IN THE HOUSE album. He jumps all over the key circle, playing the hippest substitutions, effortlessly, while swinging his ass off, and playing the most incredibly imaginative melodic lines over these bent changes. I've never heard Peterson display a mastery of harmony that approached what Tatum could do.
Wil Sargisson well-put. I wish there were slowed-down multimedia explications of what the hell Art Tatum is doing, because I'm shaking my head in disbelief from his last bar and he's already gone somewhere else.
Wil Sargisson I don't compare greatness especially black greatness, as ppl always have black folk in competition, with each other I could never compare these two brothers I just enjoy the music stand amazed how they could endure the struggles, & be able to find the time to sit down and practice relentless hours to become such great musicians🎹🎶✊🏿
Wil Sargisson Great read, thanks for commenting.
Hey Will I just want to say thanks for posting this here, helps me understand that little bit more
just discovered him, know nothing of piano, but this music just floored me.found it on a discarded cd lot on the side of the road... what a treasure! im broke as , but don't care, i have this music! thanks for explanation!
Art Tatum,
influenced my grandmother, Stenis O'Lavski to play the piano, especially the "Stride Style." Don't let her beauty fool you; she was another Art Tatum when it came to, "Stride Style Piano playing..."
Art Tatum 🙇🏾♂️🙇🏾♂️🙇🏾♂️🙇🏾♂️🙇🏾♂️
That man was just beyond. His left hand!? Forget it!
Thanks so much for posting this. Wow! I never thought I'd get to see Art Tatum play. This really makes my day. Words fail, so just--thank you again and again.
To watch Art Tatum play the piano defies logic. Critics say that he uses flourishes to much and that he "doesn't play with the band." Funny, I never heard of Art Tatum until I took a Jazz Appreciation class in community college. To read about how fast Tatum played and to view it on video - is mind-boggling!
Art Tatum made a deal with the devil. No one knows what Art got, but the devil got some piano lessons.
Art Tatum was more than a fast playing piano player. He had a wonderful understanding of harmony and counter rhythm, knew many pieces by classical composers, as the best Jazz player did. My mother was a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She had had a music lesson with Billy Mayrel when she had her 13th Birthday with which she was thrilled. She loved the records made by Art Tatum and felt he was the very best jazz piano player. Then, when she heard that Art Tatum was coming to London she contacted him and arranged for her fellow students to come and listen at a night club. They all sat down in anticipation like the music students did in the film, "The Red Shoes". Art came in and began to play but then he suddenly got up and went off stage. My mother got up and asked the manager what the matter was. He said that Art was not used to people continuing to talk as he played. My mother persuaded the manager to let her go back stage and see him. She knocked on his door and came in and introduced herself to him. "Please Mr Tatum, will you come back and play. I have all my friend from the Royal Academy of Music out there dying to hear you play. I love playing jazz too and we all think you are a genius." So he came back and she befriended him and his wife, and would take them around London. He gave her a signed photo which she always treasured. What people did not understand was that his music was packed full of serious music, harmonies and unusual kinds of rhythm and counterpoint that was considered very seriously by serious musicians. My mother arranged for him to perform in the Royal Academy in front of professors and afterwards said that he had a vert great talent. Cynthia McLaglen
@@cynthiamclaglen5687 Art Tatum was a true phenomenon. One of the greatest pianists of our time
@@rayjr62 i can do that watch me doing the stride of i know that you know and watch my last video is a tribute to him playing the whole thing very difficult only 3 videos on youtube of that song i play the piano since 1984 th-cam.com/video/yIvKKiHmObU/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/e_562_Y3c6I/w-d-xo.html
i can do that watch me doing the stride of i know that you know and watch my last video is a tribute to him playing the whole thing very difficult only 3 videos on youtube of that song i play the piano since 1984 th-cam.com/video/yIvKKiHmObU/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/e_562_Y3c6I/w-d-xo.html
Art Tatum was incredible! What a time it must have been to have heard him and the other great musicians of his day. A time when real music was played by musicians that pushed themselves to excellence! Today there aren't many super famous musicians. I n my day I guess there were many famous rock guitarist, drummers, bassists that were famous. However, today is the day of the pop star. The formula pop star to put it best. It must be terrible to be a musician in a back up band for these horrible pop singers! Probably even frustrating and demoralizing.
However, there are still some wonderful and influential musicians today, even if they're not all super famous like Chris Botty, and yes they all come from the jazz world.
No greater tribute exists than that from the great Fats Waller himself; "I'm a pianist but God (Tatum) just walked into the room".
'Nuff said.
Fantastic Documentary on Art Tatum !
Great production, thank you!
I wish I was able to have met Mr.Art Tatum but I was fortunate enough to have met Mr.Tiny Grimes before he passed JUST TO SHAKE HIS HAND WAS ENOUGH FOR ME.
That's awesome!!
A light that burns Twice as bright burns half as long & Art you burned so very very Brightly!
Baffling & extremely Surprised that no Acknowledgment of Art Tatum for Black History Month ever??
Very well said!
THE best.
A unique life in mankind music history.
Vladimir Horowitz once said that if Art Tatum had decided on playing
Classical instead! I would quit Classical all together!
THANK YOU
Tremendous! !
Quennel Gaskin right here folks. For those that don't know him. Look him up on TH-cam. You will think that you have heard Tatum in the present. But wait??? You have ladies and gentlemen. You have.......
I've never heard his equal
Buddy deFranco was right about Art Tatum's piano playing. I have never been able to listen to him without stopping what I was doing and concentrating on the music. It's not something that you can listen to while you're doing something else. It's so dense and full of musical ideas, that it demands your full attention. My father was a pianist, I started learning piano at age 3, I went to University to study music and I played professionally for many years. If I have to stop to pay attention, the average person doesn't have a chance.
Thanks so much for sharing....artists lives are just as interesting as their art perhaps even more. Can you really separate the two?
Thanks Vladinho7 . As well as Gullivior there is a poster called Credman who also has a great amount of Tatum. Excited you agree with me and just hope someone has the knowledge and contacts to hopefully follow this up. Fingers crossed !!
Yeah those guys have some cool videos and posts. Maybe we should ask them? No problems. You are correct about this. I just wonder if it is indeed from that Dorsey film. I have not watched it though. Perhaps it is a deleted scene from the Dorsey movie? or movie some archival footage? It would be awesome to see the original :)
Horowitz " if he (tatum) takes up classical music I will give up"
Tatum was just too much.
Great doc movie but the quality is weak could you high on 480 or 750
I think this contains hitherto unseen live footage of Art. At 22.00 precisely - blink and you miss it - a well known image appears but this one MOVES. The music playing in the background is from the Dorsey film and is a composition of Art,s called ,I believe, turquoise. Susy Alphanso - have you got a historic live piece of the great man ? Your piece says "Film footage courtesy of Time Life Inc." Has anyone access to this ? GULLIVIOR have you seen this ? I appreciate I may be wrong about all this but I would like to see comments from those of you who know more about Art than I do !! Any new footage of Art is so preciuos.
I believe your right. I have not seen that footage anywhere other than this documentary. I have only seen it as a still picture around the internet. It does appear to be from that film, The Fabulous Dorsey's. It would be cool to see the original footage. Good spotting :)
What year was this recorded?
Anyone know who the young player at the 27:05 mark is?
What year was this produced and/or broadcast? MBB
Indeed. I did find a DVD copy to own. MBB
Does anyone know how Art Tatum learnt jazz? I thought these are the things that would be mentioned!
It is said that he learned on one of those self-playing stride pianos. He would play the bass part, the chords and the melody all at once while the piano was playing itself. That's how he learned.
+ed g. Hmmm yeah I heard that part. But where did the harmony, improvisational skills and virtuosity come from?
He had extreme perfect pitch and a photographic memory!
Fun hagiography, but not very deep.
14:35 ZUN
17:44 lmaooo
Where is Art Tatum himself in this documentary? Where is him playing? Looks like the authors couldn't coup with the fact that the God was black. Seriously, two white nobody were shown playing, and AT hands twinkled for a few seconds. What is this? Shame on them.
Peterson recalled: "I guess I was about 10 or 11 when my Dad thought I was getting too pleased with myself. So he brought home a friend with some Art Tatum records." One of the records was Tatum's "Tiger Rag". Tatum's improvising was so complex and multi-layered that Peterson thought there was more than one pianist involved. "And when I found there wasn't, I was so discouraged that I didn't play for a month. When I heard him live? Same thing. Only worse. No one plays like Art Tatum."
黒人差別のためか、コンサートhallで演奏できなかった!?する気もなかった!?
Can't even understand what this man is saying
me neither
Which man?
Not a very good documentary.