Customer Reviews

The Definitive Art Tatum

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

...this is still worth listening to and owning. Regardless of what collection of Tatum's work it is, one never fails to be amazed by the sheer effortless such a master achieves. (A cliche, admittedly, but with a good reason in this case.) This is a good mixture of sprightly numbers (Makin' Whoopee, Blue Skies) combined with slower pieces (his rendition of "Someone to Watch Over Me" is ravishing, generous, moving - one applauds along with his audience at its conclusion).

Overall a good sampler that merely serves to whet the appetite for more recordings by this jazz piano genius.