Art Tatum Essay

From the time Tatum was born on Oct. 13, 1909 in To directo, Ohio, he was destined for revolutionizing jazz. He was born with a blind eye and the other partially blind, solely his ears were his way of seeing the world. He could sit down and play the equivalent medicine meant for four hands. He was unbeatable at any flabby competition. His influence on jazz will be forever value by jazz pianists (and non-pianists) worldwide.As a child, Art received a little formal training for piano at Toledo School of Music, only if he mainly just taught himself. By the age of 18, he was already playacting for radio broadcasts and even had his own show at unity point. By age 24, he wrote and released Tiger Rag, a song to the full equipped with fast beats, incredibly technical rhythms, and the need for skill. As he continued in his musical career, his articulation, style, and individuality only got better.Art changed the intact face of jazz music. He helped lead the next generation into the bonk era. He was the musician that started to change the chord progressions, fingered with the harmonics, and tried tender inversions of different chords (to get a more jazzy sound). Tatum was able to utilise his classical background and his jazzy style to create his own shell of music. It was technical and complex, but still full of the freestyle that jazz so intimately expresses. He used his left-handedness to create extreme bass separate and his right hand to create beautiful runs up and down the entire piano.Art had incredible ears. Although he was nearly blind in atomic number 53 eye and completely blind in the other, he could see absolutely when it came to music. It was said that Tatum could find the dominant note in a flushing toilet. He had incredible pitch, so he knew exactly which notes would sound perfect with the others. In regard to his piano, they called him, God because he was so good. Tatum neer stopped playing piano. It was his life. As one homosexual said, T atum played so brilliantly and so muchthat I thought the piano was gonna break. My mother left the populateso I said Whats wrong, Mama? And she said Oh, that man plays too much piano.Even extremely critical people would approval him for his piano skills. Whenever he ever entered a competition for piano, he never lost. Arts style of music was not the simple, easy music that anybody could play. His technique was mastered. He had the most intricate ornamentation in each line of a song he played. Not only that, but he didnt even seem like he was trying. As he pounded away at the keys, it didnt seem like pound but more floating. It seemed so effortless to him. Hank Jones said, When I finally met him and got a chance to hear him play in person, it seemed as if he wasnt really exerting much effort, he had an effortless way of playing.It was deceptive. Youd make up ones understanding him and you couldnt believe what was coming out, what was reaching your ears. He didnt welcome that m uch motion at the piano. He didnt make a big show of moving around and waving his hands and loss through all sorts of physical gyrations to produce the music that he produced, so that in itself is amazing. There had to be intense concentration there, but you couldnt tell by just looking at him play. Tatum was revolutionary. He led future jazz musicians into the next era of jazz. He had the skill and the mind of a genius, and for that, he will never be forgotten.Resourceshttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_TatumStylehttp//www.duke.edu/njh3/biography.html