Art Tatum

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I read music as well as I speak Spanish – badly – but I can follow this well enough to be double-dazzled by Art Tatum’s genius.

(It must have taken real creative courage for anyone who played piano to continue with the instrument after hearing Tatum play.)

The tune is “Tiger Rag” – a Dixieland classic

According to the generous fellow who put this video together, this comes from a 1933 recording by Tatum. This is not a remastering. It’s called a Zenph “re-performance.”

What the heck is a Zenph “re-performance?”

I don’t pretend to understand so here’s an explanation from NPR

“The Zenph “re-performance” process isn’t a remastering — that is, trying to fix an existing recording with equalization or noise reduction. Instead, it’s a new recording of a performance that scientifically matches the earlier one. Zenph uses a Yamaha Disklavier Pro, an actual acoustic piano that can, with a computer’s help, play back with microscopically accurate timing and sensitivity.” – NPR

For folks with super reading skills…there might be some mistakes in the transcription at 0:40, 1:55, and 2:00.

But guess what?

Transcribing Tatum is rocket science.

His runs are so complicated that really no one can transcribe him with 100% accuracy.

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