"Re-performance" of classic Art Tatum concert

[ghost of miles]

I guess I'll post this in the "live" forum... color me highly dubious of this project. Shouldn't they at least have dug up a pristine state-of-the-art 1955 piano?

Music software to 're-perform' jazz piano masterpiece

Rich Pell

(09/21/2007 3:04 PM EDT)

LOS ANGELES -- Sony BMG Masterworks and Zenph Studios have announced that a "re-performance" of legendary jazz pianist Art Tatum's 1949 recording "Piano Starts Here" will be held on Sept. 23, 2007 at 5 PM at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles - the site of the original live concert performance.

The re-performance, which is achieved through Zenph's music software technology, will be recorded by Sony BMG before a live audience for a forthcoming hybrid multichannel SACD/CD, to be released in early 2008. The re-performance will also include four songs Tatum recorded in 1933 that appear on "Piano Starts Here," including the jazz standard, "Tiger Rag."

Zenph's technology captures the musical nuances of the original piano recording's every note, with details about the pedal actions, volume and articulations " all with millisecond timings. The digital data is transcribed into high-resolution MIDI files and played back on a state-of-the-art Yamaha Disklavier Pro concert grand piano, allowing for the production of brand new renderings without the limitations of the original recording.

"It will be like going back to the moment of creation and hearing Tatum play in person," said John Q. Walker, President of Zenph Studios.

The producers and engineers will also record a binaural version of the re-performance; headphone playback will provide an experience that replicates what Tatum would have heard while he sat at the piano.

The Zenph re-performance also corrects problems that have accumulated since the original. A track on the current album titled "The Man I Love" omits excerpts from "Porgy and Bess" which Tatum performed during the original concert; Zenph has restored about two minutes of lost material.

Playback speed, slowed down on the album tracks, has been corrected, so Tatum actually plays faster than has typically been thought. And, a tape glitch during "Humoresque" that mars the current re-issue will be corrected.

Zenph's first album, a re-performance of pianist Glenn Gould's 1955 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, received critical acclaim and spent nine weeks on the Billboard Classical Top Ten chart this summer.

[Daniel A]

The producers and engineers will also record a binaural version of the re-performance; headphone playback will provide an experience that replicates what Tatum would have heard while he sat at the piano.

While Tatum sat at the Disklavier?

Maybe it's no match for Tatum, but I've tried a Disklavier, and didn't think it was like playing a real piano.

[Jim Alfredson]

There are several different models of Disklavier. All digital ones and real acoustic pianos with digitally controlled playback mechanics.

Regardless, the hype is pretty dubious.

[Chuck Nessa]

Nothing wrong with the original.

FWIW, "Piano Starts Here" ('70s lp and later cd) includes 4 (important) studio recordings from 1933. No mention of them.

Marketing hucksters muck around the serious music world.

[couw]

FWIW, "Piano Starts Here" ('70s lp and later cd) includes 4 (important) studio recordings from 1933. No mention of them.

The re-performance will also include four songs Tatum recorded in 1933 that appear on "Piano Starts Here," including the jazz standard, "Tiger Rag."

[Alexander Hawkins]

Nothing wrong with the original.

Exactly! A serious case of 'what's the point' coupled with 'missing the point'...

[Stereojack]

Why do dogs lick their balls?

Because they can.

[Teasing the Korean]

Has anyone heard a demonstration of this technology?

If it's as accurate as they claim, why not? I wouldn't replace the original recordings with the re-recordings, but I wouldn't mind hearing this stuff live either.

[paul secor]

Has anyone heard a demonstration of this technology?

If it's as accurate as they claim, why not? I wouldn't replace the original recordings with the re-recordings, but I wouldn't mind hearing this stuff live either.

Why? Not being snide - I'm just curious what you feel the point of hearing it would be.

[Teasing the Korean]

Why? Not being snide - I'm just curious what you feel the point of hearing it would be.

It's simply another way to hear and experience the music. Granted, if we're talking about stuff that was recorded in hi-fi, it wouldn't be a big deal.

[Teasing the Korean]

If they run a Keith Jarrett album through this program, does it also reproduce his whining note for note?

[Swinging Swede]

Or maybe they can add Jarrett's whining to Tatum's tracks?