Description:
2 CD set. Solo piano recordings from 1933 to 1952. 34 outstanding performances includes the quintessential performances of 'Humoresque,' 'It Had To Be You,' and more. Art Tatum been called one of the piano geniuses of all time, in any genre. Yet his legacy is often overlooked. It's hard to summon enough superlatives for Tatum's piano playing: his harmonic invention, his technical virtuosity, his rhythmic daring. The great stride pianist Fats Waller famously announced one night when Tatum walked into the club where Waller was playing, 'I only play the piano, but tonight God is in the house.' He emerged in the 1930s as a fully formed musician whose improvisational skill quickly became legend. He usually played solo, because it was so hard for accompanists to follow his dazzling, volcanic musical ideas. He tried to play everything he heard in his head. |