If you aren’t familiar with him, you must find some Art Tatum to listen to. I am listening to his “Complete Solo Masterpieces” (which I downloaded in MP3 format from emusic) right now and I am astounded. The only pianist who I have heard that comes close to this kind of virtuosity and musicality in one package is Earl Hines. Fantastic…

I’m starting to do a little research about Tatum and it appears he has been vastly influential on the course of jazz. There are also many good anecdotes about his fantastic ear (he was blind, or nearly so) and his technique. Here is one:

‘He began with a story about the great Art Tatum, telling us how he was serving as a prot�g� to Art and how they happened to be in Los Angeles at Ivy Anderson`s after-hours club when they were approached by a gentlemen who was also a pianist. The gentlemen expressed to Art how much he admired his playing and told of how he had transcribed his piano solo of Massenet`s Elegie (one of the most virtuosic performances Art Tatum ever recorded). The man proceeded to ask Art if he could play this transcription for him. Art reluctantly agreed. Dr. Taylor goes on to say that about two minutes into the performance Art got up and went over to the bar to order a drink, basically ignoring the efforts of the young man`s performance. Being somewhat puzzled, Taylor asks Art why he chose to ignore what the young man was doing, given the fact that to his own ears the performance was quite masterful: “Didn`t you hear that he was playing your solo verbatim?” Art`s response was, “Yes, he played all the notes; but he doesn`t know why I played those notes!”‘

And another:

” To my mind, the best story about Art Tatum concerns a meeting he had in a 52nd Street Club with Igor Stravinsky when the Russian Master was on an American tour. Stravinsky had been told about Tatum’s virtuosity and wanted to hear it for himself. After sitting through a set in the dark bar, Stravinsky ventured up to the piano, and, through an interpreter, told Tatum that he had been trying to work out a complex piano modulation in one of the compositions he had in progress. I don’t recall the precise keys in question - but let’s say Stravinsky wanted to modulate from E Flat to B Natural. That is not easy. Stravinsky’s idea was that the theme played in E Flat would be restated in B Natural immediately after the modulation, and he couldn’t get it to work. Stravinsky played the theme once, and backed away. Tatum is said to have noodled with it for a moment or two, and then executed the modulation perfectly - first try. Stravinsky was, of course, beside himself and remained a major fan of Art Tatum for the rest of his life. “