Customer Reviews

Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum

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A book that tells of the childhood of the great jazz piano player, Art Tatum (1909-1956), who, though stricken with blindness when very young, went on to become a keyboard wonder. Beautifully illustrated and sensitively written, it fills you with joy and an urge to listen, or re-listen, to a miraculous musician.

The story of Art Tatum has been told too rarely -- it's a delight to have this wonderful book written by an impassioned author. Even more amazing is the gorgeous artwork, also done by Mr. Parker. Strongly recommended.

Art Tatum was a little boy born in Toledo. His father was a mechanic and his mother, who loved to sing in church, did a lot of cleaning. His mother played the piano, but mostly it sat "quietly in the corner," until one day he became tall enough to hit the keys on the keyboard. He banged at it, played with one finger, two fingers and before you could wink an eye it started to sound very good. Even his mother said it did. He loved to play on the piano and didn't care much about night or day and because his eyes were so bad he really couldn't tell the difference.

"Don't wear out that piano today," his father said to him before he left for work. Art just loved his piano. By the time he was ten he was asked to play in church. A little case of jitters immediately went away when he touched the keyboard. Later he was asked to play at the YMCA, then at a bake sale and even someone's birthday party. "My, my, isn't he something," his mother gushed. More and more he was asked to play until he became famous, but he still remembered and loved "all the people who helped" him.

This was a wonderful story. It was written in a gentle, sing song tone and was quite inspiring. The watercolors meshed quite well with the text. In the back of the book Robert Andrew Parker writes about actually meeting and listening to Art play. There is a brief, but very interesting biography of art and a bibliography. This book would be very appealing to any jazz fan and will be appreciated and loved even by those unacquainted with his work.

My eleven year old grandaughter liked this because she takes piano. Liked the fact that it was a true story.

Gorgeously rendered watercolor illustrations and first-person-perspective text contribute to the dreamy feeling of a young boy with poor eyesight growing up to become one of the world's jazz greats. Combine this with vintage recordings and old YouTube videos of the man himself for maximum impact.

Excellent biography of Art Tatum as a child -- he was an incredible jazz pianist who began at a very early age. Reinforces the values of practice and modesty. Great illustrations.

Play his music while you read this with your children. Wow!