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."
Stormy Weather
Art Tatum Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the sky stormy weather
Since my gal and I ain't together
Keeps rainin' all the time
Life is bare, gloom and misery everywhere
Stormy weather
Oh, I just can't get my poor self together
Keeps rainin' all the time
The blues walked in and met me
If I let him stay, old rocking chair will get me
All I do is pray that the Lord above
Will let me sit in the sun once more
Can't go on, everything I have is gone
Stormy weather
Since my man and I ain't together
Keeps rainin' all the time
Oh, since he went away
The blues walked in and met me
If I let him stay, old rocking chair will get me
All I do is pray that the Lord above
Will let me sit in the sun once more
Can't go on, everything I have is gone
Stormy weather
Since my man and I ain't together
Keeps rainin' all the time
Keeps rainin' all the time
Keeps rainin' all the time
The lyrics to Art Tatum's "Stormy Weather" paint a picture of a person who feels lost and alone, and as if the world is against them. They mention how "there's no sun up in the sky" and how "keeps rainin' all the time" since their lover has left them. The singer's emotions weigh heavily on them as they describe their life as "bare, gloom, and misery everywhere." They feel as though they can't get their poor selves together in the midst of this stormy weather. The person is plagued with the blues, and the lyrics state that they "Walked in and met me."
The refrain of the song describes the person praying to the Lord above that they will once more be able to sit in the sun. They feel like they cannot go on, and they are left with nothing, everything they had is gone. The singer obviously pines for their former lover and without them, they feel lost and alone. The lyrics show how much the person misses their lover and how much their absence has affected their life.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't know why there's no sun up
I cannot comprehend why the sun is not shining
In the sky stormy weather
The sky is filled with stormy weather
Since my gal and I ain't together
The absence of my partner is the reason
Keeps rainin' all the time
It keeps raining constantly
Life is bare, gloom and misery everywhere
Life is desolate, with sadness and hardship in every direction
Oh, I just can't get my poor self together
I am unable to gather myself and remain composed
Oh, since he went away
Ever since he departed from my life
The blues walked in and met me
Depression arrived and greeted me
If I let him stay, old rocking chair will get me
If I allow it to remain, I will be consumed by sorrow
All I do is pray that the Lord above
All I can do is plead with a higher power
Will let me sit in the sun once more
To grant me the chance to bask in sunlight once again
Can't go on, everything I have is gone
I cannot endure, for all that I had is no more
Since my man and I ain't together
Our separation is the root of this
Keeps rainin' all the time
It continues to rain non-stop
Keeps rainin' all the time
The rain persists endlessly
Writer(s): Arlen Harold, Koehler Ted
Contributed by Madison Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@GDsJazz
I'm so glad I found your channel. You have some amazing transcriptions! Sometime, could you transcribe Art Tatum's 1935 recording of "Stay As sweet as you Are?"
Keep up the fantastic work!
@jacobzimmermann59
Very beautiful
@hannijazz3276
Just look at 2:59! Such harmony was so ahead of his time
@pianolovers2280
It's like that, flows in his mind at the speed of light, one of the best improvisers of all time.
@filistro
Thank you for All your good transcriptions. I have played a lot of that kind.. Could you send me Stormy Weather?
@pianolovers2280
Thanks, of course give me an email adress
@filistro
@Piano Lover ́sthank you. My email is:
tompedersen1107@gmail.com
@tamag00ch
Thank you for uploading this it's amazing! Could I please possibly have the sheet music as well?
@pianolovers2280
You are welcome give me an email and I Will send it yo you
@yurivlock3275
@Piano Lover ́s could u send this adorable sheets to me too?) and how can i send my email to you privately..)