Customer Reviews

The Art Tatum Solo Book (Artist Transcriptions)

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

 

 

Yea, Tatum is magnificent! Reading the transcriptions while listening to the recordings just makes his playing even more amazing and enjoyable. This book is great and can keep you very busy. By the way, if you want to play like Art there is a another book, "The Right Hand According to Tatum" which has even more transcriptions, tells you how to finger and use his runs,has some analysis etc. This book could have used a bit of that. Good Luck!

Not for the faint of heart. The collected transcriptions of what God himself would play for solo jazz piano. Very advanced literature....good variety of ballads and swingers that were WAY ahead of his time harmonically and a rag(Tiger Rag) that is fiendishly, insanely difficult. Accurate transcriptions as far as I can check with the recordings of Tatum that I have....If you haven't listened to him before get some....As said by McCoy Tyner--he is simply the greatest jazz pianist that has ever lived. Period.

would be to play like Art Tatum for an evening. This book kind of let's you do that, if you have the time, dedication and a broad enough left hand (or a pre-modern narrower keyboard). As another reviewer said, not for the faint of heart, but almost anything is possible if you are willing to spend the time. The selection of pieces by Edstrom is excellent, including the classic Tatum version of Cherokee and an early Tatum recording of Stormy Weather - probably the most accessible and mild-tempo'd piece in the group. I've learned more about jazz piano from this collection than anything I have played. And, the thing with Tatum is that you can slow down the tempo several-fold and it still sounds great. By the way, anyone have a transcription of Chlo-e?

Yea, Tatum is magnificent! Reading the transcriptions while listening to the recordings just makes his playing even more amazing and enjoyable. This book is great and can keep you very busy. By the way, if you want to play like Art there is a another book, "The Right Hand According to Tatum" which has even more transcriptions, tells you how to finger and use his runs,has some analysis etc. This book could have used a bit of that. Good Luck!

Yea, Tatum is magnificent! Reading the transcriptions while listening to the recordings just makes his playing even more amazing and enjoyable. This book is great and can keep you very busy. By the way, if you want to play like Art there is a another book, "The Right Hand According to Tatum" which has even more transcriptions and tells you how to finger and use his runs. It has some analysis etc. This book could have used a bit of that. Good Luck!

What can I say there was only one Art Tatum. I even enjoy following the sound tracks with the transcription in this book. The Chord symbols help out a lot. One thing is for sure you will end up making up your own jazz runs up and down the keyboard. The man is just unbelievable and amazing. This book is great for learning jazz piano period. Even when the music is slowed down by us mortals it still sounds great and rich.