The Definitive Art Tatum

Art Tatum | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 24, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B00006F2WX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #204,015 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

16 Art Tatum gems drawn from his Decca, Capitol and Verve sides, spanning the years 1934 to 1950-"definitive" pretty much describes this one! Includes The Shout; Get Happy; Blue Skies; Yesterdays; Elegie; Nice Work If You Can Get It; Jitterbug Waltz; Mr. Freddie Blues; (Back Home Again in) Indiana; Aunt Hagar's Blues , and more. Some of the most remarkable piano work ever recorded.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK, but be careful!, January 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Definitive Art Tatum (Audio CD)

The Definitive Art Tatum is a wonderful snapshot of Art Tatum's magnificent talent, comprised of selections from other Blue Note/Verve/Decca albums, but this is where I have a small problem with the presentation of this CD. There is no indication on the back of the CD case that these tracks were sourced from other, easily obtainable, CDs (the reference to "compilation" in fine print at the bottom of the case, notwithstanding). In fact the reader is left with the impression that all of the tracks are the work of the Tatum, Barksdale, Stewart trio when only the last track "Indiana", is. The Blue Note web site repeats this same inadequate information. This all becomes clear when you open the booklet, but a prospective customer cannot read the booklet before purchase when the CD is sealed in plastic.

One other gripe I have is that the length of the CD is less than one hour - only 50 minutes in fact! Surely Blue Note could have managed to fill the CD to nearer 80 minutes, and make this something really special.

If you do *not* already own the "Complete Capitol Recordings", "Twentieth-Century Piano Genius", or the "Decca Early Piano Solos", then I recommend this CD (with some reservations). The recording quality is excellent, and Art is in fine form. If you already own several Tatum albums, then you can save your money, and create your own "Definitive" CD or tape.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars IS IT REALLY THE DEFINITIVE?, December 2, 2002

By 

ALAIN ROBERT (ST-HUBERT,QUÉBEC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Definitive Art Tatum (Audio CD)

Never let an aspiring pianist listen to this version of MASSENET's ELEGY,this could discourage him forever.TATUM was not what you call a salon pianist;he was much more a virtuoso that ones listen to for kicks.It is true however that he was unique among the pianists of his generation.You simply can not duplicate this guy who remains in a class by himself.As good as this collection is to summarize him,i still prefer the BEST OF on PABLO, but you can also settle for this one without a guilty feeling.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lives up to its billing, November 29, 2002

By 

Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Definitive Art Tatum (Audio CD)

Required to leave town for a couple of weeks, I threw a CD player into my suitcase and thought hard about a single album that might last me. This was it, and a good choice it proved to be. I made it a point to listen to just one track per night (since the disc contains 16, I would have had to stay in Philly another couple of nights to "finish" the album). What takes a Keith Jarrett 30 minutes to develop, Tatum accomplishes in less than 3 minutes. You've got to play the track repeatedly to catch all of the surprises--his mind and fingers operate at a speed to which most of us as listeners and mere mortals are not accustomed. Take Gershwin's "Mine," for example. For a full half chorus Tatum plays 3/4 time in the right hand while maintaining the 4/4 pulse in the bass. And when you expect him to reign it in for the "out" chorus, he unleashes a torrent of notes, somehow managing to insert percussive melody notes in the middle of an otherwise smooth, "ornamental" run encompassing the full 88. And the man's harmony! Imagine a turntable with a lot of "wow" (uneven rotations, some running faster and "sharping" the pitch; others moving slower and "flatting" the pitch). Tatum's uncanny, "horizontal" approach to harmony often leads to humanly-produced "wow." He finishes in the same key that he started in but with so many subtle, virtually seamless modulations that there's never a sense of monotonality, repetition, or waste.

Verve is forever recycling, rearranging and repackaging the material in their vaults. Stay away from "The Ultimate Tatum," which is mostly a recording from a single session. "The Definitive Collection," on the other hand, represents Tatum at his best from 1934 to 1952. And the selections were made by someone you can trust to do his homework--jazz critic and historian Dan Morgenstern. If the other collections are as thoughtfully assembled as this one, Verve's "Definitive" series may well be worth a closer look.