File:Art_Tatum,_Vogue_Room_1948_(Gottlieb).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Art Tatum
Sign in to saveAlso known as Arthur Tatum, Jr., Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr., Arthur Tatum
American jazz pianist (1909–1956)
OverviewAI-generated
Art Tatum was an American pianist and jazz musician born in Toledo in 1909. A member of the African American ethnic group, he was a male artist who resided in his birthplace and later in Los Angeles. His musical career encompassed the genres of jazz, stride piano, swing, and instrumental styles. He performed on the piano and recorded for several labels, including Verve Records, Capitol Records, Folkways Records, and Brunswick Records.
Tatum’s work received significant recognition, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance, for which he was also nominated. He died in Los Angeles in 1956 due to kidney failure, a natural cause. Following his death, he was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. His professional activity ended in 1956, the year of his passing.
Synthesized by Vinony from 29 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, MusicBrainz, Last.fm. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Male
- Origin
- United States
- Active from
- 1909
- Active to
- 1956
Discography
- Decca Presents Art Tatum in an Album of Piano Solos1940
- Piano solos1944
- Cocktails for Two / Liza / Sweet Lorraine / Hallelujah1945
- Begin the Beguine / Indiana / Poor Butterfly1946
- Body and Soul / Lover1946
- I’m Beginning to See the Light / 9:20 Special / Easy Street / Should I1946
- She’s Funny That Way / Gershwin Medley1946
- Where or When / Song of the Vagabonds / Exactly Like You1946
- Art Tatum1950
- Piano Solos Vol. 21950
Member of
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 485,379
- Total plays
- 4,622,937
Tags
Art Tatum (Arthur Tatum, Jr., October 13, 1909, Toledo, Ohio, USA - November 5, 1956, Los Angeles, California) was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind since birth. Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. He was noted for the complexity and speed of his performances, which set a new standard for jazz piano virtuosity. Tatum drew inspiration from his contemporaries James P. <a href="https://www
Key facts
- Born
- Arthur Tatum Jr. , ( 1909-10-13 ) October 13, 1909, Toledo , Ohio, U.S.
- Died
- November 5, 1956 (1956-11-05) (aged 47), Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Genres
- Jazz , stride
- Occupation
- Musician
- Instrument
- Piano
- Years active
- Mid-1920s–1956
- Labels
- Brunswick , Decca , Capitol , Clef , Verve
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Art
- Family name
- Tatum
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Toledo
- Place of death
- Los Angeles
- Occupation
- musician
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Award
- Grammy Hall of Fame
- Genre
- stride piano
- Instrument
- piano
- Record label
- Decca
- Image
- Art Tatum, ca. May 1946 (William P. Gottlieb 08311).jpg
- Residence
- Toledo
Show 11 more facts
- Commons category
- Art Tatum
- date of birth
- 1909-10-13
- date of death
- 1956-11-05
- medical condition
- blindness
- cause of death
- kidney failure
- place of burial
- Forest Lawn Memorial Park
- manner of death
- natural causes
- ethnic group
- African Americans
- nominated for
- Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance
- end of work period
- 1956-00-00
- start of work period
- 1926-00-00
Sources (10)
via Wikidata · CC0
~36 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Arthur Tatum Jr. (/ˈteɪtəm/, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever. From early in his career, fellow musicians acclaimed Tatum's technical ability as extraordinary. Tatum also extended jazz piano's vocabulary and boundaries far beyond his initial stride influences, and established new ground through innovative use of reharmonization, voicing, and bitonality.
Tatum grew up in Toledo, Ohio, where he began playing piano professionally and had his own radio program, rebroadcast nationwide, while still in his teens. He left Toledo in 1932 and had residencies as a solo pianist at clubs in major urban centers including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In that decade, he settled into a pattern he followed for most of his career – paid performances followed by long after-hours playing, all accompanied by prodigious alcohol consumption. He was said to be more spontaneous and creative in such venues, and although the drinking did not hinder his playing, it did damage his health.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Art Tatum” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.