Customer Reviews

Solo Masterpieces 6

5 star:		(2)
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I used to play this record (vinyl, that is) back in the 70s when I was in college and had a jazz show on my college radio station, WCNI. Pablo had put out a boxed set of all of Tatum's solo work, recorded in the early 50s by Norman Granz. I particularly enjoyed Tatum's rendition of "The Way You Look Tonight" and played it often as a signature song on my show. Having found all of the work available on CD, this was the first volume I bought, and it brought back great memories. More than that, though, it brought Tatum's refreshing, exciting style into the 90s and beyond. Where else can you find a rendition of "Just Like a Butterfly That's Caught in the Rain?" All of the Tatum Solo Masterpiece CDs are 5-star winners; it's just that this is my all-time favorite. The Group Masterpieces are also great, but hearing Tatum record songs almost at the first take, by just going into the studio, sitting down, and playing, blows me away still.

Before Norman Granz brought Art Tatum into the studio a half-dozen times in 1955-56 to record what would become known as the "Group Masterpieces," he brought the legendary pianist into the studio nearly a dozen times from 1953-55 to record what would become the eight CD volumes of the "Solo Masterpieces." (By the way, feel free to check out my reviews of Group Masterpieces Volumes 3, 4 & 6, and of the Boxed Set collecting all eight volumes.) Art Tatum is arguably the greatest pianist in the history of jazz, and the world owes a great debt to Mr. Granz for having the insight to document him in such variety and quantity. For those of you who are hesitating because this is a solo jazz recording, don't! Art has a style of playing flurries of notes, so that at any given time it sounds like a trio session. But don't get the wrong impression, Tatum is not merely a master technician, but a sensitive and sincere virtuoso. Another intimidating aspect of these "Masterpiece" volumes, whether it is the Group or Solo, is the shear number of them. I would suggest, as the Penguin Guide does, to start with this title, Volume 6, or Volume 4, but any one of them will do fine for they are all truly, modern piano masterpieces.