THE ART OF TATUM VOL 2
by Art Tatum

By the early 1950s, Art Tatum was no longer simply an extraordinary pianist from the previous generation. He had become a musician whose influence could be heard among younger pianists, while his own playing continued to develop in directions that were difficult to categorize. The recordings made at the end of 1953, when producer Norman Granz brought Tatum into the studio for an extensive series of solo sessions, document one of the final and most substantial stages of his career.

Tatum had begun the decade working again in small-group settings. In 1951 he formed a new trio with guitarist Everett Barksdale and bassist Slam Stewart, and the group recorded for Capitol in 1952. Tatum was also active on the road. In 1952 he participated in the touring package Piano Parade with Erroll Garner, Pete Johnson and Meade Lux Lewis. During 1953 he continued to move between engagements in cities including New York, Chicago, Denver, Detroit and Montreal. In August he appeared at Chicago's Blue Note, while later in the year he played in Boston and at Brandeis University before travelling to Los Angeles for the December recording sessions.

California had already been an important part of Tatum's working life. Los Angeles was one of the centres in which he performed regularly, and by December 1953 it became the setting for what would become an extraordinary recording project. On December 28 and 29, Norman Granz recorded Tatum alone at Radio Recorders Studios in Hollywood. The sessions were exceptionally extensive: 34 solos were recorded on the first day and 35 on the second. Further solo sessions followed in April 1954 and January 1955, eventually producing more than 120 performances.

The idea behind these sessions was remarkably simple. Granz gave Tatum the freedom to play the repertoire he wanted, without a rhythm section or accompanying musicians. The resulting performances became one of the largest recorded bodies of solo jazz piano of the period. They were eventually issued in the Genius of Art Tatum series on Clef and Verve and, decades later, collected in the Tatum Solo Masterpieces series.

The difference between these performances and many of Tatum's recordings from the 1930s and early 1940s is immediately noticeable in their scale. Earlier recordings were often limited by the three-minute duration of a 78-rpm side. The 1953 sessions took place in the era of the long-playing record and allowed Tatum considerably more time. That freedom is evident in performances such as In a Sentimental Mood at more than six minutes, Without a Song at almost six minutes, and I'll Wind at more than five minutes.

This additional space altered the character of the performances. Tatum was able to allow a melody to unfold more gradually, to return to themes, extend transitional passages and develop harmonic ideas at greater length. The extended duration should not, however, be mistaken simply for slower or less concentrated playing. His harmonic imagination remained extraordinarily active throughout.

One of the most useful descriptions of Tatum's musical construction comes from the Oxford scholarship on his playing. His performances often begin with a highly embellished, flexible presentation of the melody, after which the music moves into more rhythmically defined sections. His improvisations combine rapid melodic figures, substitute harmonies, stride-derived bass patterns and elaborate textures spread across the entire keyboard.

This is especially apparent in the 1953 performances. Tatum could take a familiar popular song and transform its harmonic surface almost immediately. Chords might be altered beneath a melody, passing harmonies inserted between phrases, and independent melodic lines introduced above or below the main tune. Yet the underlying song usually remains recognisable. The listener is therefore hearing two things simultaneously: the original popular song and Tatum's highly individual reinterpretation of it.

His technique was not merely a matter of speed. Tatum possessed an exceptional control of balance between the registers of the instrument. Rapid runs could move across several octaves while inner voices and bass figures continued to define the harmony. His playing could therefore create the impression of several instrumental parts being performed simultaneously. Whitney Balliett famously described this aspect of Tatum's playing as almost orchestral in its density, while more analytical studies have emphasized his unusually sophisticated use of substitute harmonies and rhythmic variation.

Another characteristic of Tatum's mature playing was his increasing freedom from continuous stride accompaniment. In the 1930s, stride patterns were often more prominent and sustained. By the later recordings, he could move rapidly between stride, single-note lines, block-like harmonic textures, contrapuntal passages and freer rhythmic figures. One study of his later playing notes that the 1953–54 recordings contain much less uninterrupted left-hand stride than his earlier work, while his reharmonization and ornamental invention had reached an especially elaborate level.

The repertoire represented here also shows how naturally Tatum moved between different generations of popular song. Stompin' at the Savoy and In a Sentimental Mood originated in the jazz world; Without a Song, I'll See You in My Dreams and Have You Met Miss Jones came from musical theatre and popular song; Star Dust and The Very Thought of You had become standards; while Isn't This a Lovely Day and I'll See You Again represented more recent popular repertoire.

Tatum did not treat these songs as fixed objects. Each one became an opportunity for arrangement and recomposition at the keyboard. This is one reason the longer 1953 performances are particularly valuable. Freed from the limitations of the 78-rpm format, Tatum could construct performances on a larger scale than was generally possible during his earlier recording career.

The December 1953 sessions therefore occupy a special place in his discography. They bring together the pianist's accumulated experience from the clubs, tours, broadcasts, trio performances and earlier studio recordings, while giving him an unusual amount of time to develop each individual piece.

Tatum's career would continue for only a few more years. He made additional solo recordings with Granz in 1954 and 1955 and continued to perform, including major appearances with Jazz at the Philharmonic. In 1956, shortly before his death, he appeared at the Hollywood Bowl before an audience of approximately 19,000.

The recordings from December 1953 can therefore be heard as mature statements rather than merely historical documents. They show a pianist who had retained the rhythmic foundation and harmonic imagination of his earlier style while expanding the scale of his performances. The extra minutes available to him were not simply filled with more notes. They gave Tatum the space to make the architecture of his improvisations more apparent—to let melodies breathe, to extend harmonic detours, and to build performances whose proportions were closer to those of complete piano arrangements than to the short 78-rpm interpretations of his earlier career.

In that sense, these Hollywood recordings form a natural continuation of Tatum's earlier work, while also revealing a pianist at a different stage of his development: more expansive, more structurally ambitious, and with an almost complete command of the solo piano as an orchestral instrument.

EU Public Domain Notice
The historical sound recordings included in this release are in the public domain in the European Union. Blue Music Group has created a new digital restoration and mastering of these historical recordings. The digital restoration and mastering by Blue Music Group are protected by applicable copyright and related rights. Rights may differ in other territories, including the United States. This release is not intended for distribution in the United States.

Cover artwork: The original photographic image has been legally assessed as being in the public domain in the EU following the expiry of the applicable 50-year term under Section 49a. The image has been restored, enhanced and colorized by Blue Music Group. © Blue Music Group. All rights reserved.

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