Art Tatum

USA, 1927–1956

American jazz pianist (1909-1956), largely blind, known for rapid runs and dense reharmonisation. Classical and jazz pianists alike cited his technique.

MusicRoots documents 2 artists who influenced Art Tatum and 6 artists Art Tatum influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Art Tatum?

• Fats Waller — Tatum identified Fats Waller as his biggest influence — the stride foundation his virtuosity was built on and then transcended.
• James P. Johnson — James P. Johnson's stride piano was the other pillar of Tatum's technique — the Harlem left-hand tradition he inherited.

Which artists did Art Tatum influence?

• Stevie Wonder — Art Tatum's cascading virtuoso piano was a model Stevie reached for in his instrumental writing — named alongside Ellington as the keyboard sophistication he chased.
• Oscar Peterson — Tatum was the summit Peterson measured himself against - 'Tatum scared me to death' - and the source of the cascading virtuosity he built his own style on.
• The Durutti Column — Asked about the guitarists who shaped him, Reilly answered that his influences are not guitarists at all but pianists - Art Tatum first among them, whose cascading lines he transferred to the fretboard.
• Thelonious Monk — Art Tatum's virtuosic runs and harmonic sophistication were absorbed into Monk's playing — 'Monk came directly out of Tatum', though he disguised it in his own angular style.
• Bud Powell — Powell called Tatum the only jazz pianist who beat him technically, and was imitating him by ten.
• Ray Charles — Charles worked out his piano playing on the modern jazz players, Tatum first among them, before the gospel-and-blues fusion of the mid-fifties.