Art Tatum: Difference between revisions

Tatum's improvisational style extended what was possible on jazz piano.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=11}} The virtuoso solo aspects of his style were taken on by pianists such as [[Adam Makowicz]], [[Simon Nabatov]], [[Oscar Peterson]], and [[Martial Solal]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Joachim-Ernst |last1=Berendt |first2=Günther |last2=Huesmann |title=The Jazz Book |year=2009 |edition=7th |publisher=Lawrence Hill Books |isbn= 978-1-55652-820-0 |pages=370–372}}</ref> Even musicians who played in very different styles, such as [[Bud Powell]], Lennie Tristano, and [[Herbie Hancock]], memorized and recreated some of his recordings to learn from them.<ref name="Grove2" /> Although Powell was of the bebop movement, his prolific and exciting style showed Tatum's influence.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=172}} [[Mary Lou Williams]] said, "Tatum taught me how to hit my notes, how to control them without using pedals. And he showed me how to keep my fingers flat on the keys to get that clean tone."<ref>{{cite book |last=Torff |first=Brian Q. |chapter=Mary Lou Williams: A Woman's Life in Jazz |editor-last=Heintze |editor-first=James R. |title=Perspectives on American Music Since 1950 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GsRj7AKzgJcC&pg=PA163 |access-date=January 1, 2019 |year=1999 |publisher=Garland |isbn=978-0-8153-2144-6 |page=163}}</ref>

 

 

Other musicians sought to transfer elements of Tatum's pianistic virtuosity to their instruments.<ref name="Grove2" /> When newly arrived in New York, saxophonist [[Charlie Parker]] worked for three months as a dishwasher in a restaurant where Tatum was performing and often listened to him.{{sfn|Giddins|2013|pp=56–57}} "Perhaps the most important idea Parker learned from Tatum was that any note could be made to fit in a chord if suitably resolved."{{sfn|Giddins|2013|p=59}} Trumpeter [[Dizzy Gillespie]] was also affected by Tatum's speed, harmony, and daring solos.<ref>{{cite book |first=Alyn |last=Shipton |title=Groovin' High |url=https://archive.org/details/groovinhighlifeo00shipt |url-access=registration |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-509132-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/groovinhighlifeo00shipt/page/100 100]}}</ref> Vocalist [[Tony Bennett]] incorporated aspects of Tatum into his singing: "I'd listen to his records almost daily and try to phrase like him. [...] I just take his phrasing and sing it that way."<ref>{{cite book |first=Larry |last=Kart |title=Jazz in Search of Itself |url=https://archive.org/details/jazzinsearchofit0000kart |url-access=registration |year=2004 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-10420-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/jazzinsearchofit0000kart/page/309 309]}}</ref> Saxophonist [[Coleman Hawkins]] changed his playing style after hearing Tatum play in Toledo in the 1920s:{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=48–49}} Hawkins's "arpeggio-based style and his growing vocabulary of chords, of passing chords and the relationships of chords, were confirmed and encouraged by his response to Art Tatum."<ref name="Williams" /> This style was hugely influential on the development of jazz saxophone playing, and put the sax on course to becoming the dominant jazz instrument.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=48–49}}