Art Tatum (October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American pianist, widely regarded as one of the greatest
jazz performers in history. Born in
Toledo, Ohio, he began playing the piano professionally and hosting a nationwide radio program while in his teens. He left Toledo in 1932 and had residencies as a solo pianist at clubs in major urban centers including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In that decade, he settled into a pattern he followed for most of his career – paid performances followed by long after-hours playing, all accompanied by prodigious consumption of alcohol. In the 1940s, Tatum led a commercially successful trio for a short time and began playing in more formal jazz concert settings, including at
Norman Granz-produced
Jazz at the Philharmonic events. His popularity diminished towards the end of the decade, as he continued to play in his own style, ignoring the rise of
bebop. Granz recorded Tatum extensively in solo and small group formats in the mid-1950s, with the last session only two months before Tatum's death from
uremia at the age of 47. This photograph by
William P. Gottlieb shows Tatum playing the piano in the Vogue Room in New York City sometime in the late 1940s.
Photograph credit: William P. Gottlieb
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