Caine's Blog: Twentieth Century Piano Genius

Art Tatum:

Twentieth Century Piano Genius (TCF/Verve 2-CD set, 1950, 1955)

This is my favorite among all Tatum's recordings, and that's saying a lot. His performances here confirm the album's title: I've never heard a better demonstration than these, recorded at private parties at the Beverly Hills home of Ray Heindorf on two occasions set apart by several years.

As always, I marvel at Tatum's complete mastery of the keyboard, his advanced harmonics, his knowledge of seemingly all contemporary popular music, and his resourcefulness at every turn. In these particular recordings, there are the additional assets of a fine instrument and the relaxed atmosphere of a private party, an ambience not present on his studio or concert recordings.

Twentieth Century Piano Genius has an interesting history. It first came out on the Twentieth Century Fox label with barely half of what this double-CD contains, and some of the originally released tracks were incomplete. The remaining tracks came out in dribs and drabs overs the years, including a Smithsonian Records release (Pieces of Eight) in the 1970s. The Verve CD reissue adds 11 more to comprise the full 29 tracks.

The collection begins with an attractive but all-but-forgotten ballad, "Just Like a Butterfly (That's Caught in the Rain)." I hear an unusual degree of dissonance in this performance, as in Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood" a few tracks later. On the most-frequently played tunes, Tatum early on developed set routines; long-time admirers always knew what to expect in a performance, yet no performances were exactly alike (compare, for example, the 1951 version of "Body and Soul"to the one played in 1955).

I recall Charles Mingus once opining that Art Tatum might have become a composer himself, were his mind not so occupied with almost every pop song ever written during his lifetime. His death came in 1956, a few months after the later of the dates was played. I'd like to have been there.