"Art Tatum: the Group Masterpieces"

[ghost of miles]

This week's Night Lights program, Art Tatum: the Group Masterpieces, is up for online listening, in honor of the Tatum centennial--an overview of the recordings Tatum made in the last several years of his life with Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Lionel Hampton, and others. You can also watch a brief clip of Tatum's 1940s trio on the program page:

Art Tatum: the Group Masterpieces

Air times for Night Lights around the U.S.

Next week: "The Transition Records Story."

Edited October 13, 2009 by ghost of miles

[mellowT]

Thanks for the info. Funny thing is today I was considering buying that Pablo box set. Now I can listen to whole song samples. Sweet!

[ghost of miles]

mellowT, glad you're happy about the show. Is it just me, or did Tatum not garner as much attention as expected for his centennial? Not referring to this thread, but to other places on the Internet... Ted Gioia did a "Dozens" rundown at Jazz.com, but I didn't see much else while I was surfing the web on Tuesday.

[ghost of miles]

We re-aired Art Tatum: the Group Masterpieces last week, and it remains archived for online listening.

[jostber]

Thanks for the update! This is great to have available. More on Tatum:

http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/living-with-music-a-playlist-by-paul-berman/

[gmonahan]

Thanks for the update! This is great to have available. More on Tatum:

http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/living-with-music-a-playlist-by-paul-berman/

Thanks for posting this. I've been listening to Tatum for years (I *think* I have just about everything he ever recorded, anything that's been released anyway), and I've come to understand that songs for Tatum were just structures for his genius to deconstruct and reconstruct however he saw fit. He also deconstructed and reconstructed rhythms, as this piece makes clear, but he always had the rhythm he started with there in his mind while he was building others. Listen to any of his numerous versions of "Tiger Rag." You'll hear him recompose the piece several times in the space of a couple of minutes. Tatum was a true titan. I do agree with one liner-note writer I read once (I'm sorry to say I don't remember on which album I read it) who said that Tatum is best taken in relatively short doses where one can really concentrate one's attention to focused listening. Like a fine liqueur, he's a very, very rich drink.

gregmo