Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. He was noted for the complexity and speed of his performances, which set a new standard for jazz piano virtuosity.
Tatum drew inspiration from his contemporaries James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, and had a great influence on other famous jazz pianists, such as Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Chick Corea, and Oscar Peterson. Saxophonist Charlie Parker took his first job in New York as a dishwasher where Tatum played, just for the experience of hearing Tatum's harmonic inventions.
Tatum identified Fats Waller as his main influence, but according to pianist Teddy Wilson and saxophonist Eddie Barefield, "Art Tatum's favorite jazz piano player was Earl Hines. He used to buy all of Earl's records and would improvise on them. He'd play the record but he'd improvise over what Earl was doing ..... 'course, when you heard Art play you didn't hear nothing of anybody but Art. But he got his ideas from Earl's style of playing – but Earl never knew that."
A major event in his meteoric rise to success was his appearance at a cutting contest in 1933 at Morgan's bar in New York City that included Waller, Johnson and Willie "The Lion" Smith. Standard contest pieces included Johnson's "Harlem Strut" and "Carolina Shout" and Fats Waller's "Handful of Keys." Tatum triumphed with his arrangements of "Tea for Two" and "Tiger Rag", in a performance that was considered to be the last word in stride piano. James P. Johnson, reminiscing about Tatum's debut afterward, simply said, "When Tatum played Tea For Two that night I guess that was the first time I ever heard it really played." Tatum's debut was historic because he outplayed the elite competition and heralded the demise of the stride era. He was not challenged further until stride specialist Donald Lambert initiated a half-serious rivalry with him.
Tatum worked first around Toledo and Cleveland and then later in New York at the Onyx Club for a few months; he recorded his first four solo sides on the Brunswick label in March, 1933. He returned to Ohio and played around the American midwest - Toledo, Cleveland, Detroit, Saint Louis and Chicago - in the mid-1930s and played on the Fleischman Hour radio program hosted by Rudy Vallee in 1935. He also played stints at the Three Deuces in Chicago and in Los Angeles he played at The Trocadero, the Paramount and the Club Alabam. In 1937 he returned to New York where he appeared at clubs and played on national radio programs. The following year he embarked on the Queen Mary for England where he toured, playing for three months at Ciro's Club owned by bandleader Ambrose. In the late 1930s he returned to play and record in Los Angeles and New York.
In 1941, Tatum recorded two sessions for Decca Records with singer Big Joe Turner, the first of which included "Wee Wee Baby Blues", which attained national popularity. Two years later Tatum won Esquire Magazine's first jazz popularity poll. Perhaps believing there was a limited audience for solo piano, Tatum formed a trio in 1943 with guitarist Tiny Grimes and bassist Slam Stewart, whose perfect pitch enabled him to follow Tatum's excursions. Tatum recorded exclusively with the trio for almost two years, but abandoned the trio format in 1945 and returned to solo piano work. Although Tatum was idolized by many jazz musicians, his popularity faded in the mid to late forties with the advent of bebop - a movement which Tatum did not embrace.
The last two years of his life, Tatum regularly played at Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit, including his final public performance in April 1956. Earlier, Tatum had personally selected and purchased for Clarence Baker the Steinway piano at Baker's, finding it in a New York showroom, and shipping it to Detroit.
Tatum was widely recognized among his colleagues as the most gifted jazz pianist alive, some going so far as to say he was one of the greatest pianists of any genre. Such classical luminaries as Vladimir Horowitz and Sergei Rachmaninov greatly admired his technique. Unusually for a jazz musician, Tatum rarely abandoned the original melodic lines of the songs he played, preferring innovative reharmonization (changing the chord progressions that supported the melodies). He also had a penchant for filling spaces within melodies with his trademark runs and other embellishments, which some critics considered gratuitous and "unjazzlike."
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
Art Tatum Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The boulevard of broken dreams
Where gigolo and gigolette
Can take a kiss without regret
So they forget their broken dreams
You laugh tonight and cry tomorrow
When you behold your shattered schemes
Wake up to find their eyes are wet
With tears that tell of broken dreams
Here is where you'll always find me
Always walking up and down
But I left my soul behind me
In an old cathedral town
The joy that you find here you borrow
You cannot keep it long it seems
Gigolo and gigolette
Still sing a song and dance along
The boulevard of broken dreams
Here is where you'll always find me
Always walking up and down
For I left my soul behind me
In an old cathedral town
The joy that you find here you borrow
You cannot keep it long it seems
But gigolo and gigolette
Still sing a song and dance along
The boulevard of broken dreams
The lyrics to Art Tatum's Boulevard of Broken Dreams tell the story of a street filled with sorrow and shattered dreams. The singer describes the boulevard as a place where gigolos and gigolettes wander, taking kisses without regret as a way to forget their broken dreams. The singer notes that joy is fleeting on the boulevard, and that the people who reside there must learn to take the bad with the good. He or she describes a cycle of laughter tonight and tears tomorrow, as those who seek solace on the boulevard inevitably find their schemes shattered.
Despite the heartache and sorrow that permeates the boulevard, the people who live there still find a way to sing and dance. The singer notes that gigolos and gigolettes still sing their songs and enjoy their dances along the boulevard of broken dreams. This is where the singer comes to walk, always regretful and always searching for something that he left behind in an old cathedral town.
The lyrics to Boulevard of Broken Dreams are a poignant commentary on the fragility of human dreams and the pain of seeing them shattered. The street is a metaphor for the inevitable disappointments and setbacks that life has to offer. Despite the heartache, however, there is always a reason to keep singing and dancing, even in the face of adversity.
Line by Line Meaning
I walk along the street of sorrow
I am walking on a road that is filled with sadness
The boulevard of broken dreams
This is a place where people come to see their impossible dreams shattered
Where gigolo and gigolette
You'll find men and women seeking love in unhealthy relationships to escape their pain
Can take a kiss without regret
They are willing to do anything for affection and will not regret taking it
So they forget their broken dreams
They are trying to forget their unfulfilled desires by indulging in passionate affairs
You laugh tonight and cry tomorrow
You'll embrace happiness today but sadness tomorrow because your dreams will not come true
When you behold your shattered schemes
After working hard to achieve your dreams, you will realize they are no longer possible
Wake up to find their eyes are wet
People often wake up with tears when they realize that their dreams have been lost
With tears that tell of broken dreams
Their tears are a symbol of the broken dreams that they cannot forget
Here is where you'll always find me
I will always be here on this boulevard, watching others struggle with their shattered dreams
Always walking up and down
I stroll on this road endlessly, looking for a way to escape its sadness
But I left my soul behind me
I have lost myself to this place, and my soul has been left behind in another city
In an old cathedral town
I've been consumed by my sadness for so long that I cannot remember where I left my soul
The joy that you find here you borrow
Happiness that people experience here is only temporary and borrowed
You cannot keep it long it seems
People cannot sustain happiness on this boulevard for long, and they will soon turn sad again
Still sing a song and dance along
Despite their broken dreams, gigolo and gigolette continue enjoying life and living in the moment
The boulevard of broken dreams
This road is filled with people who have lost their dreams and are searching for a way to escape their pain
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: AL DUBIN, HARRY WARREN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
ebirben1
Hoooooooooooly shit. I've been listening to Tatum for almost 3 years he never ceases to amaze me. The passage, change in cadence, absorbing the same melody under different styles, harmonizations. not forggetting the fast pentatonic descending A-bombs... It is the same melody over and over again...but it feels different, it feels special. WOW....
CIPRIANO DE RORE
HE WAS A MOST GREAT JAZZ PIANO IN ANY TIME...TATUM THE KING
Partyzan Soundsystem
TY again and again for posting this! Tatum was the best, is the best, and, unfortunately will be the best for many years ) He is so far away of the rest of pianists)
Nathan Perrin
So this has been here since 2011 and I only find out NOW ! :( thanks Gullivor for this amazing song by the best pianist of all time
kanaka Vii
...lol its actually been here since the 50's 60's!!! Although some things remain hidden until your ready to discover them!! ;) i just found this gem and is now in my vinyl collection!!
Youyou Sam
The GOAT (Greatest of all time).
Paul Ostroff
Awesome.TY gullivior for posting.
Partyzan Soundsystem
I think the world will get someone similar appx every 500 years, so there is a small hope )
CARLOS ORELLANA
Alla turca