[78-L] Art Tatum 100th birthday

[Julian Vein]

Taylor Bowie wrote:
> I learned a while ago that today October 13th was the 100th anniversary of 
> the birth of Art Tatum,  so I thought that would be a  good occasion to stir 
> up some trouble.
> 
> Some people prefer traveling in something along the lines of the SST, 
> because it is fast,  sleek,  mechanicaly complex,  etc.   Gets you there 
> before you know it!
> 
> That's all fine,  but going so fast I think you miss a lot of scenery which 
> is part of what makes the trip enjoyable.
> 
> And that's pretty much what I think of the playing of Art Tatum.  Yes,  it 
> is impressive.  Yes,  he has technique to spare.  But I always get the 
> feeling that he is not so much interpreting the melody as discecting it into 
> little pieces...kind of like a surgeon doing an autopsy.
> 
> Plus,  after a while,  you can always tell where and when he will make one 
> of his little "runs" with which he likes to punctuate his playing.  I never 
> experience the kind of joy or surprise in his work which I find in many 
> other players.  It seems so calculated.
> 
> When a record of his is over...I don't feel any sense of 
> satisfaction....more like exhaustion.
> 
> But year after year you read that he is the "greatest" piano player in jazz, 
> blah blah blah.
> 
> To me his playing  seems more like a stunt than music ...cold, clinical and 
> machine like...disigned to get into the Guinness Book of Records as "most 
> piano notes played in ten seconds."
> 
> So Tatum fans...tell me what it is I'm missing.
> 
> 
> Taylor
===========
Nothing at all, Taylor. I think you've presented the case against Tatum 
as well as I've ever heard it expressed. Seems to me he's more of a 
musicians' musician, which is understandable.

Each song was carefully choreographed, so it came out the same each 
time. I don't get that sense of dignity in his playing that I do with, 
say, Teddy Wilson or Jess Stacy, more like a "Look Mum, I'm smoking!" 
attitude.

Actually, this debate has been going on for many decades, similar to the 
one about Jimmie Lunceford--his band probably impressed more in public 
than on record. I rarely feel a desire to play a Lunceford or Tatum 
record, and when I do I'm generally left unsatisfied.

      Julian Vein


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