Another story this morning on NPR was about Art Tatum: "A Talent Never To Be Duplicated":
Fifty years ago Sunday, the jazz musician Art Tatum died. He's been called one of the piano geniuses of all time, in any genre. Yet his legacy is often overlooked.
It's hard to summon enough superlatives for Tatum's piano playing: his harmonic invention, his technical virtuosity, his rhythmic daring. The great stride pianist Fats Waller famously announced one night when Tatum walked into the club where Waller was playing, "I only play the piano, but tonight God is in the house."
Read entire story.
I don't listen to a lot of Tatum although I recognize his genius. I find his playing so overwhelming that after a while he gives me a headache. Maybe it's the minimalist in my artistic tastes, the "less is more" bias. His skill is extraordinary but he really doesn't communicate to me in a way that makes me a fan who goes back to his music often. I react with wow, not ahhhhhhhhhhhh.
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