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| birth_place = [[Toledo, Ohio|Toledo]], Ohio, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1956|11|5|1909|10|13|mf=y}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| genre = [[Jazz]], [[Stride (music)|stride]]
| occupation = Musician
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Tatum's mother, Mildred Hoskins, was born in [[Martinsville, Virginia]],{{sfn|Balliett|2005|p=226}} around 1890, and was a domestic worker.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=18}} His father, Arthur Tatum Sr., was born in [[Statesville, North Carolina]],{{sfn|Balliett|2005|p=226}}{{refn|group=note|Tatum Sr.'s age at the time of Art's birth is given as either 24 or 28, meaning he was born around 1885 or around 1881.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=229}} }} and had steady employment as a mechanic.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=17}} In 1909, they made their way from North Carolina to begin a new life in [[Toledo, Ohio]].<ref>{{cite thesis |type=PhD |last=Hunt |first=Imelda |title=An Oral History of Art Tatum During His Years in Toledo, Ohio, 1909–1932 |date=1995 |publisher=[[Bowling Green State University]] |page=24 |oclc=39748924}}</ref> The couple had four children; Art was the oldest to survive, and was born in Toledo on October 13, 1909.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=15–16}} He was followed by Arline nine years later and Karl after another two years.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=16}} Karl went to college and became a social worker.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=18}} The Tatum family was regarded as conventional and church-going.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=19}}
From infancy, Tatum had impaired vision.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=20–21}} Several explanations for this have been posited, most involving [[cataract]]s.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=20–21}}{{refn|group=note|Tatum's eyesight is discussed in detail by {{harvnb|Spencer|2002|pp=42–54}}.}} As a result of eye operations, by the age of 11 Tatum could see objects close to him and perhaps distinguish colors.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=22}} Any benefits from these procedures were reversed, however, when he was assaulted, probably in his early twenties.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=22–24}} The attack left him completely blind in his left eye and with very limited vision in his right.{{sfn|Balliett|2005|p=225}} Despite this, there are multiple accounts of him enjoying playing cards and [[Pool (cue sports)|pool]].{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=25, 58, 85}}{{refn|group=note|In 1935, Tatum was reported as describing his eyesight as "not too good, but I can see enough to read and write and get around".<ref name="DB1935" />}}
Accounts vary on whether Tatum's parents played any musical instruments, but it is likely that he was exposed at an early age to church music, including through the Grace [[Presbyterian Church]] that his parents attended.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=19–20}} He also began the piano at a young age, playing by ear and aided by an excellent memory and sense of pitch.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=34–37}} Other musicians reported that he had [[perfect pitch]].{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=148}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Taylor |first=Billy |title=The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor |year=2013 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-00917-3 |page=57}}</ref> As a child he was sensitive to the piano's [[Intonation (music)|intonation]] and insisted it be tuned often.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=36–37}} He learned tunes from the radio, records, and by copying [[piano roll]] recordings.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=44–46}} In an interview as an adult, Tatum denied the story that his playing ability developed because he had attempted to reproduce piano roll recordings that, without his knowing, had been made by two performers.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=44}} His interest in sports was lifelong, and he displayed an encyclopedic memory for baseball statistics.<ref name="Primack" />
Tatum first attended Jefferson School in Toledo, then moved to the School for the Blind in [[Columbus, Ohio]], late in 1924.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=26–28}} After
{{Multi image
| image1 = Fats Waller edit.jpg
| caption1 = [[Fats Waller]]
| image2 = JPJ_CD2.gif
| total_width = 350
| caption2 = [[James P. Johnson]]
| image3 = Earl Hines 1947.jpg
| caption3 = [[Earl Hines]]
| header = Major influences on Tatum:
}}
Growing up, Tatum drew inspiration principally from [[Fats Waller]] and [[James P. Johnson]], who exemplified the [[Stride (music)|stride piano]] style, and to some extent from the more modern [[Earl Hines]],<ref name="Horn" />{{sfn|Schuller|1989|pp=478–479}} six years Tatum's senior. Tatum identified Waller as his biggest influence, while pianist [[Teddy Wilson]] and saxophonist [[Eddie Barefield]] suggested that Hines was one of his favorite jazz pianists.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=57}} Another influence was pianist [[Lee Sims]], who did not play jazz, but used chord voicings and an orchestral approach (i.e. encompassing a full sound instead of highlighting one or more [[timbre]]s{{sfn|Schuller|1989|p=482}}) that appeared in Tatum's playing.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=123–125}}
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Aided by name recognition from his record sales and reduced entertainer availability because of the [[World War II]] draft, Tatum began to play in more formal jazz concert settings in 1944,<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Smith |first=Bill |date=October 28, 1944 |title=Vaude Opening to Combos |magazine=The Billboard |volume=56 |issue=44 |page=24}}</ref> appearing at concert halls in towns and universities all around the United States.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=182}} The venues were much larger than jazz clubs – some had capacities in excess of 3,000 people<ref>{{cite magazine |date=October 20, 1945 |title=Tatum Longhair Dates Look OK for Plenty $$$ |magazine=The Billboard |volume=57 |issue=42 |page=32 }}</ref> – allowing Tatum to earn more money for much less work.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=182}} Despite the more formal concert settings, Tatum preferred not to adhere to a set program of pieces for these performances.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 11, 1945 |title=Art Tatum, Jazz Pianist, in First Local Concert |work=[[Star Tribune]] |page=15}}</ref> He recorded with the [[Barney Bigard]] Sextet and cut nine solo tracks in 1945.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=163}}
A fellow pianist from the years after World War II estimated that Tatum routinely drank two quarts (1.9 L) of whiskey and a [[Case (goods)|case]] of beer over the course of 24 hours.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=178}}{{refn|group=note|A "case" of beer often refers to 24 beers, but there is not an official standard.}} Almost all reports are that such drinking did not hinder his playing.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=62, 72, 77}} Rather than being deliberately or uncontrollably self-destructive, this habit was probably a product of his being careless about his health, a
Performances at concert settings continued in the second half of the 1940s, including participation in [[Norman Granz]]-produced [[Jazz at the Philharmonic]] events.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=182–183}} In 1947, Tatum again appeared on film, in ''[[The Fabulous Dorseys]]''.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=175–176}} [[Columbia Records]] recorded and released a 1949 concert at the [[Shrine Auditorium]] in Los Angeles as ''[[Gene Norman Presents an Art Tatum Concert]]''.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 29, 1952 |title=Tatum and Goodman |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |page=36}}</ref> In the same year, he signed to [[Capitol Records]] and recorded 26 pieces for it.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=184}} He also played for the first time at Club Alamo in Detroit, but stopped when a black friend was not served.<ref name="before" /> The owner subsequently advertised that black customers were welcome, and Tatum played there frequently in the next few years.<ref name="before">{{cite book |last1=Bjorn |first1=Lars |last2=Gallert|first2=Jim|title=Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K11GJ-xaEcoC&pg=PA117 |access-date=September 11, 2018 |year=2001 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=0-472-06765-6 |page=117 }}</ref>
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==After hours and repertoire==
Tatum was said to be more spontaneous and creative in free-form nocturnal sessions than in his scheduled performances.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=13, 93}}{{sfn|Schuller|1989|p=481}} Whereas in a professional setting he would often give audiences what they wanted – performances of songs that were similar to his recorded versions – but decline to play encores, in after-hours sessions with friends he would play the blues, improvise for long periods on the same sequence of chords, and move even further away from a composition's melody.<ref name="GroveJazz">{{cite encyclopedia |entry=Tatum, Art(hur, Jr.) (jazz) |encyclopedia=Grove Music |last=Howlett |first=Felicity |title=Tatum, Art(hur, Jr.) (Jazz) |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2002 |doi = 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J441700|isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 }}</ref> Tatum also sometimes sang the blues in such settings, accompanying himself on piano.{{sfn|Schuller|1989|p=488}} Composer and historian [[Gunther Schuller]] describes "a night-weary, sleepy, slurry voice, of lost love and sexual innuendos which would have shocked (and repelled) those 'fans' who admired Tatum for his musical discipline and 'classical' [piano] propriety".{{sfn|Schuller|1989|p=488}}
In after-hours performances, Tatum's repertoire was much wider than in professional appearances,{{sfn|Howlett|1982|p=xii}} at which his staples were American popular songs.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=205}} During his career, he also played his own arrangements of a few classical piano pieces, including [[Antonín Dvořák|Dvořák]]'s ''[[Humoresques (Dvořák)|Humoresque]]'' and [[Jules Massenet|Massenet]]'s "[[Élégie (Massenet)|Élégie]]",{{sfn|Schuller|1989|p=485}} and recorded around a dozen blues pieces.{{sfn|Schuller|1989|p=478}} Over time, he added to his repertoire – by the late 1940s, most of the new pieces were medium-tempo ballads but also included compositions that presented him with harmonic challenges, such as the simplicity of "[[Caravan (Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington song)|Caravan]]" and complexity of "[[Have You Met Miss Jones?]]"<ref name="Williams" /> He did not add to the classical pieces he had used earlier.<ref name="Williams" />
==Style and technique==
Saxophonist [[Benny Green (saxophonist)|Benny Green]] wrote that Tatum was the only jazz musician to "attempt to conceive a style based upon all styles, to master the mannerisms of all schools, and then synthesize those into something personal".<ref name="Cohassey">{{cite journal |last1=Cohassey |first1=John |title=Art Tatum |journal=Contemporary Black Biography |volume=28 |pages=187–190}}</ref> Tatum was able to transform the styles of preceding jazz piano through virtuosity: where other pianists had employed repetitive rhythmic patterns and relatively simple decoration, he created "harmonic sweeps of colour [and] unpredictable and ever-changing shifts of rhythm".<ref name="Grove2">{{cite encyclopedia |entry=Tatum, Art(hur) |encyclopedia=Grove Music |last1=Howlett |first1=Felicity |last2=Robinson |first2=J. Bradford |title=Tatum, Art(hur, Jr.) |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2001 |doi = 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.27553|isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 }}</ref>
[[File:Art_Tatum,_Lonesome_Graveyard_Blues.ogg|thumb|right|Tatum's bitonal playing with [[Oscar Moore]] on "Lonesome Graveyard Blues" (1941)]]
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In 1989, Tatum's hometown of Toledo established the Art Tatum African American Resource Center in its Kent Branch Library.<ref name="lib" /> It contains print and audio materials and microfiche, and organizes cultural programs, including festivals, concerts, and a gallery for local artists.<ref name="lib">{{cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/loc.afc.afc-legacies.200003439/ |title=Local Legacies |publisher=The Library of Congress|access-date=May 6, 2020 }}</ref>
In 1993, Jeff Bilmes, an [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] student in the field of computational musicology coined the term "[[Tatum (music)|tatum]]" in recognition of the pianist's speed.<ref name="BilmesConf">{{Cite conference |last= Bilmes |first=Jeff |title=Techniques to Foster Drum Machine Expressivity |year=1993 |conference=International Computer Music Conference | location=Tokyo |pages=276–283 |citeseerx=10.1.1.76.1189 }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |url=http://melodi.ee.washington.edu/~bilmes/mypapers/mit-thesis.pdf |title=Timing Is of the Essence: Perceptual and Computational Techniques for Representing, Learning, and Reproducing Expressive Timing in Percussive Rhythm |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |type=MSc |first=Jeff |last=Bilmes |date=1993 |access-date=November 13, 2018 |archive-date=July 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728085128/http://melodi.ee.washington.edu/~bilmes/mypapers/mit-thesis.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> It has been defined as "the smallest time interval between successive notes in a rhythmic phrase",<ref name="BilmesConf" /> and "the fastest pulse present in a piece of music".<ref>{{Cite conference |last1=McLeod |first1=Andrew |last2=Steedman |first2=Mark |title=Meter Detection and Alignment of MIDI Performance|year= 2018|conference=International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference |location=Paris |pages=113–119 |citeseerx=10.1.1.26.9273 }}</ref>
In 2003, a historical marker was placed outside Tatum's childhood home at 1123 City Park Avenue in Toledo, but by 2017 the unoccupied property was in a state of disrepair.<ref name="house">{{cite news |last1=McGinnis |first1=Jeff |last2=Cocoves |first2=Athena |date=February 21, 2017 |url=http://toledocitypaper.com/the-city/remembering-art-tatum/ |title=Remembering Art Tatum |work=Toledo City Paper |access-date=October 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014091254/http://toledocitypaper.com/the-city/remembering-art-tatum/ |archive-date=October 14, 2018}}</ref> In 2021, Art Tatum Zone, a nonprofit organization, was awarded grants to restore the house and improve the neighborhood.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Snyder |first=Kate |date=February 22, 2021 |url=https://www.toledoblade.com/local/2021/02/22/Art-Tatum-Zone-receives-two-grant-awards/stories/20210222099 |title=Art Tatum Zone Receives Two Grant Awards |work=[[The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)|The Blade]] |access-date=October 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015114730/https://www.toledoblade.com/local/2021/02/22/Art-Tatum-Zone-receives-two-grant-awards/stories/20210222099 |archive-date=October 15, 2021}}</ref> Also in Toledo, the [[Huntington Center (Toledo)|Lucas County Arena]] unveiled a 27-feet-high sculpture, the "Art Tatum Celebration Column", in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |title=Art Tatum Memorial |url=http://theartscommission.org/module-positions/recently-completed-projects/art-tatum-memorial|publisher=The Art Commission of Toledo|access-date=April 23, 2013 |date=September 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130410080733/http://theartscommission.org/module-positions/recently-completed-projects/art-tatum-memorial |archive-date=April 10, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
==Discography==
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* [https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc701825/ 1955 radio broadcast] by [[Voice of America]], in which [[Willis Conover]] interviews Tatum
{{Art Tatum}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:1956 deaths]]
[[Category:African-American jazz pianists]]
[[Category:American male pianists]]▼
[[Category:Blind musicians]]
[[Category:Burials at Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery]]
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[[Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Ohio]]
[[Category:Musicians from Toledo, Ohio]]
[[Category:Stride pianists]]
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[[Category:American blind people]]
[[Category:American musicians with disabilities]]
▲[[Category:American male jazz pianists]]
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