I own "The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 1" and I think the man is a genius! (see thread http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20072) So, I am looking to build up my music connection with releases by Art Tatum. I would like forum member recommendations. If possible please comment on performance quality and recording quality. Thanks!!!
You're right. Tatum WAS a genius. The real deal. Fats Waller (whom I worship) referred to Tatum as "God" so there's one recommendation for you. Literally anything he did is wonderful. Of course, he died much too young... I'm sure we fans all have favorite records; here a few of mine that I think would also serve you well as starting points (one from each of his three distinct "periods" if you will): PIANO STARTS HERE/Columbia. Just to have his original 1932 "Tiger Rag" is worth the $10. If you haven't heard it yet, prepare to pick your jaw up off the floor after he's done his impression of three guys playing the piano at once. COMPLETE CAPITOL RECORDINGS. 2-CD; great sound quality and Disc 2 has the wonderful trio work he did with Slam Stewart and Everett Barksdale. SOLO MASTERPIECES: sounds like you're on your way there. He also did the GROUP MASTERPIECES series at the same time; I like the Lionel Hampton/Buddy Rich discs the best but they're all essential, course. Pablo just released single-disc Best-Of the GROUP MASTERPIECES so that might be a good one to get. Let us know what you get and what you think...you're just going want it all eventually.
Re: Re: Art Tatum Recommendations? I was debating over the use of "is" or "was". I guess it depends what your definition of "is" is (in my best Bill Clinton impersonation) He "was" a genius when he was alive. But, my perspective is that he lives on through his music/recordings. And comparing his talent with those that followed him, he still "is" a genius. But seriously, Thanks for the recommendations, I will definitely check them out. And I agree that I will eventually want them all. I am a completest you know.
I have the XRCD of "The Tatum Group Masterpieces" with Ben Webster. It is Volume 8 but does not say so on the cover. I think this is a wonderful disc both the music and sound quality. The XRCD blows away all previous versions - the old OJC and especially the "24-bit" European version (which is horrible).
Re: Re: Art Tatum Recommendations? And after you pick your jaw up, remind yourself how young Tatum was when he made that recording. And that he was effectively blind, with no sight in one eye, and almost none in the other. For me, Tatum was the single greatest instrumentalist of the 20th century. (American/European/Western music, anyway.) I once saw Andre Previn interviewing Oscar Peterson about jazz pianists; Peterson told a wonderful story: he was about 14, already making quite a splash as the up-and-coming piano sensation, and was beginning to get a bit full of himself. His father decided to knock him back down to size a little. So one day his father comes home with a record, tells Oscar to "listen to this"; it was Tatum's 1932 Tiger Rag. After hearing it, Oscar says to Dad "That's incredible! Who are they?" Dad shakes his head and says "Uh-uh - ONE man". Oscar told Previn he cried himself to sleep, and didn't touch the piano for six weeks. (Which might have been a wee bit of exaggeration, but then again maybe not.) PIANO STARTS HERE can't be recommended strongly enough. One of those records that everybody should own. My other personal fave would be THE BEST OF ART TATUM/ Pablo Records, PACD-2405-418-2 Track One, "Night and Day" with Roy Eldridge, John Simmons, and Alvin Stroller, is an incredible display of what Tatum could do within an ensemble.
I've got an LP on the Onyx label called "God Is in the House" (referencing the aforementioned Fats Waller quote), which features amateur recordings of Tatum playing broken pianos in after-hours joints. I don't know if this album ever made it to CD, but it's on my desert island list. And one more vote for the Pablo Solo Masterpieces.
Thanks for the recommendations! I picked up the following: Piano Starts Here The Best of the Complete Pablo Group Masterpieces Finest Hour "Astounding" is all I have to say. My jaw still hurts after it hit the coffee table while listening to "Tiger Rag". And yes... I think I will have to get them all!! Thanks again!
I've got gobs of jazz piano recordings from the 1940s/1950s, but I've somehow managed to sneak through my life without ever purchasing any Art Tatum. (How'd THAT happen? I've certainly always been well aware of him, and have heard many of his recordings, but I've never actually owned any.) I recently purchased a sealed copy of this 1970s, 16-track mono Capitol LP: ....and I'm really enjoying it! It looks like Tatum recorded 28 tracks for Capitol, and they all have been collected on officially-licensed CD twice. First here: and later here: Are the masterings similar on the two sets? How about liner notes? Any reason to choose one over the other? I see there's a brief interview recording included on the later set.
Follow-up question: The initial CD release of these tracks has a note on the back cover that reads, "Because the original discs, which cannot be located, were transferred to tape at a very low volume, there is a certain level of tape hiss which could not be avoided." That's fine, but does anybody know for certain that the 1949 tracks were actually recorded at Capitol's own studios? The reason I ask is that when I interviewed John Palladino, who was a mixer at Radio Recorders (often doing projects for Capitol) from 1943-1948, then he moved to Capitol Studios when they opened at Melrose in 1948, he said that, as far as he could remember, he never recorded to tape at Radio Recorders, and he never recorded to disk at Capitol. The dates of the recordings in question are July 13 and 25, 1949, over six months after recording at Capitol re-booted in earnest after the nearly year-long AFM strike of 1948, which ended, IIRC, Dec. 27, 1948, and several months after this article appeared in Billboard, indicating that all recording at Capitol was being done on tape, which correlates with what John Palladino told me regarding this same time frame: So, to clarify, I'm curious as to where the Tatum recordings were actually made in 1949. If they were at Capitol's own studios, I would think they would have been recorded directly to tape, not to disk. If they were made at another studio and merely released on Capitol, then the comment about disk to tape transfer makes more sense. Anybody? @lukpac ?
Hi Sir, I have this 10" LP on Capitol, an original pressing from 1950 in pretty good condition. To my ears, it definitely sounds like it was recorded straight to tape: it has a clean, punchy sound, with absolutely no evidence of 78-rpm surface noise. This also coincides with the historical evidence that they were already using tape. On the other hand, many of these tracks on the "Complete Capitol Recordings" CD sound like they were derived from 78s — I compared the tracks with my LP and the LP sound fuller and cleaner. So my theory is they either couldn't locate the original tapes or the tapes were lost. Or maybe they didn't know these were tape recordings. EDIT: I now re-read the text and saw that they transferred from tape copies of the 78s. Which is even weirder. Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool went through a similar thing, being mastered from tape copies since the beginning of the LP era — until someone finally decided to look for the individual master tapes and found them!
I prefer Tatum's solo work over his group sessions. Another recommendation for the Capitol album. I would also pick up the private recording done at Ray Heindorf's party. I believe this came out on Verve in the CD era.
I warmly recommend this little-known CD of his Decca recordings, which has great, unfutzed-with transfers by restoration experts Steven Lasker and Doug Schwartz. https://www.discogs.com/Art-Tatum-Classic-Early-Solos-1934-1937/master/1012179
Piano Starts Here is available on SACD, and you should still be able to obtain at a very friendly price.
Alas, I don't have any existing knowledge about this, and I'm not finding a ton of information. This just claims "Lost Angeles": Art Tatum, p Los Angeles, July 13, 1949 5039 WILLOW WEEP FOR ME Capitol 15520 5040 I COVER THE WATERFRONT Capitol 15518 5041 AUNT HAGAR'S BLUES Capitol 15520 5042 NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT Capitol 15519 5043 SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME Capitol 15714 5044 DARDANELLA Capitol H 216 Art Tatum, p Los Angeles, July 25, 1949 5045 TIME ON MY HANDS Capitol 15712 5046 SWEET LORRAINE Capitol 15713 5047 SOMEBODY LOVES ME Capitol 15714 5048 DON'T BLAME ME Capitol 15713 Art Tatum, p Los Angeles, September 29, 1949 5049 MY HEART STOOD STILL Capitol 15712 5050 YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF ME Capitol 15841 5051 I GOTTA RIGHT TO SING THE BLUES Capitol H 216 DISC FOUR - GOIN' HOME Art Tatum, p Los Angeles, September 29, 1949 5054 GOIN' HOME Capitol H 269 5055 BLUE SKIES Capitol H 216 5056 IT'S THE TALK OF THE TOWN Capitol H 269 5057 DANCING IN THE DARK Capitol H 216 The Copacetic Comics Company | Piano Grand Master by Art Tatum »
Much of that first session and 3 tracks from the last two sessions are on my 10" LP and they sound like tape to me.
The problem is that it is short. Why haven't the Decca recordings been released in a comprehensive fashion?
The "Piano Starts Here" SACD is a modern "reproduction" recording, not to be confused with the famous Columbia LP of the same name. The SACD involves computer analysis of Tatum recordings and a modern mechanical "player piano" recorded under "audiophile" conditions. The process doesn't interest me too much - I'd just rather listen to an actual Tatum recording instead...
“Before Zenph’s treatment, Tatum’s recordings were subject to the technological constraints of the time. Enthusiasts lamented the fuzz, hissing and popping that marred the sound quality of many of his records. Now, audiences have the chance to hear his music as though 'he’s in the room with them.'” Jazz Beat (pt 24) » [scroll] FWIW, Zenph - Home » is now owned by Steinway & Sons!
Yeah, that's a great one. It appears to be OOP now, but there are a handful of copies available on eBay at mostly reasonable prices.
Piano Starts Here, The Best of the Complete Pablo Group Masterpieces & Finest Hour are all fantastic. Highly recommended.
Has anyone compared the masterings of Complete Capitol Recordings? I think ones from 1989 ( the two separate volumes) and the other from 1997 (single cd of both volumes).
I like lots of different styles of music and at seem point came across Art Tatum by way of his Tea for Two CD. I love it. While being probably a step or two below even somewhat informed in terms of jazz I have other jazz oriented music and find that this one and his style is of my favorites. While spirited it's still relaxed, there is lots of tone variety if that makes sense and both he and the music doesn't seem to be too demanding and needing to be taken to serious. One of these days I look forward to getting a little more of his music.
