Tatum was born in
Toledo, Ohio. From infancy he suffered from
cataracts of disputed cause, which left him
blind in one eye, and with only very limited vision in the other. Some surgery improved Tatum's eye condition to a degree, but this effort was reversed when he was assaulted in 1930 at age 20. He played piano from his youth, and played professionally in
Ohio and especially the
Cleveland area before moving to
New York City in 1932.
A child
prodigy, Tatum learned to play by copying piano roll recordings his mother owned, playing by ear by the age of three. Tatum would learn both parts of a piece for four hands by feeling the keys depressed on the piano. By the age of six he was able to play songs originally performed as
duets, unaware that there were supposed to be two players. In this way, he developed an incredibly fast playing style, without losing any of his accuracy. As a child Tatum was also very sensitive to the piano's
intonation, and insisted it be tuned often.
Tatum drew inspiration from his contemporaries
James P. Johnson and
Fats Waller, who exemplified the best
stride piano style. Tatum's meteoric rise to the top began with his appearance at a
cutting contest in 1933 that included Waller and others. Standard contest pieces included Johnson's "Harlem Strut" and "Carolina Shout," and Fats Waller's "Handful of Keys." Tatum was victorious, presenting his arrangement of "
Tiger Rag." This was considered by Harlem musicians to be Tatum's ultimate contribution to stride piano, and taken as the most astonishing and original that would probably ever appear, in many respects, despite being an arrangement. In subsequent gatherings Tatum tended to prefer not to be followed by another pianist. He was not challenged further until
Donald Lambert initiated a half-serious rivalry with him.
From the foundation of stride, Tatum made great leaps in terms of technique and
theory, and honed a new style that would greatly influence later jazz pianists, such as
Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson, Billy Taylor, Bill Evans, and
Chick Corea. Tatum's extensive use of the
pentatonic scale, for example, may have inspired later pianists to further mine its possibilities as a device for soloing.
Tatum introduced a strong, swinging pulse to jazz piano, as well as other new sounds in his
improvisation and self-
accompaniment. Tatum rarely abandoned the original
melodic lines of the songs he played, preferring instead to feature innovative reharmonization (changing the
chord progressions supporting the melodies). Occasionally, Tatum's reharmonizing was simply a matter of altering the root movements of a tune so as to more effectively apply already commonly used chords from early jazz and classical music. Yet many of Tatum's harmonic concepts and larger chord voicings were well ahead of their time in the 1930s (except for their partial emergence in popular songs of the
jazz age) and they would be explored by
bebop-era musicians 20 years later. Tatum worked some of the upper extensions of chords into his lines, and this practice was further developed by
Bud Powell and
Charlie Parker, which in turn was an influence on the development of 'modern jazz'. He also had a penchant for filling spaces within melodies with trademark runs and
embellishments. The notes and
phrases within those embellishments made genuine musical statements praised by jazz and
classical audiences alike. The speed of the techniques, however, made them somewhat enigmatic and difficult for ensemble playing.
Tatum tended to record unaccompanied, partly because relatively few musicians could keep up with his lightning-fast
tempos and advanced harmonic vocabulary. He formed a trio during the early 1940s with bassist
Slam Stewart and guitarist
Tiny Grimes. During their short period of time together, they recorded a number of 78
rpm discs that feature interplay among the musicians.
Transcriptions of Tatum are popular and are often practiced assiduously. But perhaps because his playing was so difficult to copy, only a handful of musicians — such as
Oscar Peterson, Johnny Costa, Johnny Guarnieri, Francois Rilhac, Adam Makowicz, Steven Mayer and
Dan Knight — have attempted to seriously emulate or challenge Tatum.
Phineas Newborn's playing, such as his recording of Willow Weep For Me, is closely modelled on Tatum.
Tatum recorded commercially from 1932 until near his death, though the predominantly solo nature of his skills meant that recording opportunities were somewhat intermittent. Tatum recorded for Decca (1934–41), Capitol (1949, 1952) and for the labels associated with
Norman Granz (1953–56). For Granz, he recorded an extended series of solo albums and group recordings with, among others,
Ben Webster, Buddy DeFranco, Benny Carter and
Lionel Hampton.
Although Tatum refrained from classifying himself as a classical pianist, he adapted several classical works into new arrangements that showcased his own musical style.
Only a small amount of film showing Art Tatum playing exists today as the vast majority has been lost (several minutes of professionally shot archival footage can, for example, be found in
Martin Scorsese's documentary
Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues). Tatum appeared on
Steve Allen's Tonight Show in the early 1950s, and on other television shows from this era. Unfortunately, all of the
kinescopes of the Allen shows, which were stored in a warehouse along with other now defunct shows, were thrown into a local rubbish dump to make room for new studios. However, the soundtracks were recorded off-air by Tatum enthusiasts at the time, and many are included in
Storyville Records extensive series of rare Tatum recordings.
Art Tatum died in
Los Angeles, California from the complications of
uremia (as a result of
kidney failure), having been a heavy drinker since his teen years. He is interred in the
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in
Glendale, California.
