When I was looking for a keyboard, I saw a Steinway on ebay for only $247,000.
I would have bought it, but they wanted an arm and a leg for shipping too.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
When it comes to pure piano-playing virtuosity, no other human being can even hope to touch Art Tatum.
Hey, look.... I play an instrument that is as far-removed from the piano as you could get, so don't consider me some kind of expert at what it takes to play the piano at a world-class (even historic) level. I only know what my ears tell me.
When I was 15, I found a neglected Art Tatum LP in My Parents' collection... something I'd never heard either of them play on the old Magnavox console. This dude exploded (and transformed) how I heard music. After I listened to it, I confronted My Parents:
"Why didn't you play this record with Duke, Count, and all the other Jazz guys you had stacked up?"
[Don't forget: back in those days, Momz would stack a half-dozen 12" 33 1/3 LP's on the old Magnavox turntable spindle, and each record would SLAM down on top of the previously-played LP. THAT was Momz's version of a 'Saturday afternoon house-cleaning mixtape'...]
Pops: "I knew he was great, but all those notes made my head hurt-" Momz: "He makes me feel ashamed of my piano-playing" (Momz taught piano in her own private studio for 20+ years). "I can't listen to him, and still teach little kids where their fingers should go on a piano."
But don't take my word for it. Here's what 'The Greatest' of our generation(s) had to say about him (from my WikiLink):
Quote:
In 1964, Art Tatum was posthumously inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.[56] He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989. Numerous stories exist about other musicians' respect for Tatum. Perhaps the most famous is the story about the time Tatum walked into a club where Fats Waller was playing, and Waller stepped away from the piano bench to make way for Tatum, announcing, "I only play the piano, but tonight God is in the house."[57] Fats Waller's son confirmed the statement.[58] Charlie Parker (who helped develop bebop) was highly influenced by Tatum. When newly arrived in New York, Parker briefly worked as a dishwasher in a Manhattan restaurant where Tatum was performing and often listened to the pianist. Parker once said, "I wish I could play like Tatum's right hand!"[59] When Oscar Peterson was still a boy, his father played him a recording of Tatum performing "Tiger Rag". Once the young Peterson was finally persuaded that it was performed by a single person, he was so intimidated that he did not touch the piano for weeks.[60] Peterson also stated that, "If you speak of pianists, the most complete pianist that we have known and possibly will know, from what I've heard to date, is Art Tatum."[61] "Musically speaking, he was and is my musical God, and I feel honored to remain one of his humbly devoted disciples."[62] "Here's something new..." pianist Hank Jones remembers thinking when he first heard Art Tatum on radio in 1935, "they have devised this trick to make people believe that one man is playing the piano, when I know at least three people are playing."[63] The jazz pianist and educator Kenny Barron commented, "I have every record [Tatum] ever made—and I try never to listen to them ... If I did, I'd throw up my hands and give up!"[64] Jean Cocteau dubbed Tatum "a crazed Chopin". Count Basie called him the eighth wonder of the world. Dave Brubeck observed, "I don't think there's any more chance of another Tatum turning up than another Mozart."[65] Pianist Mulgrew Miller, commented on personal growth by saying, "When I talk to the people I admire, they're always talking about continuous growth and development and I look at them and say, 'Well... what are YOU going to do?' But, as Harold Mabern says, 'There's always Art Tatum records around'".[66] Dizzy Gillespie said, "First you speak of Art Tatum, then take a long deep breath, and you speak of the other pianists."[67] The pianist Teddy Wilson observed, "Maybe this will explain Art Tatum. If you put a piano in a room, just a bare piano. Then you get all the finest jazz pianists in the world and let them play in the presence of Art Tatum. Then let Art Tatum play ... everyone there will sound like an amateur."[67] Other music luminaries of the day, including Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubinstein, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Leopold Godowsky, David Oistrakh and George Gershwin marveled at Tatum's genius.[41] Jazz critic Leonard Feather called Tatum "the greatest soloist in jazz history, regardless of instrument."[67]
Art Tatum: Pride of the town I've called My Home for almost 30 years...
Close. The. (effing). Door.
Oh, yeah- one other thing.... I intentionally neglected to mention (until now) that Art Tatum was legally blind since BEFORE he chose to take up the piano.
This isn't for everyone, but I think highly of this gal:
If you liked that, check out her on Beethoven Piano Concerto # 3. I think that is what it is called. It starts off slower, but is also damn impressive.
Man, I am still doing really basic songs on just one keyboard. lol
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Well, I can play chords, I know thew difference between Major and Minor Chords, and such .....I can quickly find keys on the keyboard ....and am working at reading sheet music quicker. I have even been able to play some of the simpler songs.
I really look forward to when I can easily read sheet music, or actually play a piece from sheet music without fits and starts.
To paraphrase some of our former head coaches .... "It's a process".
I am also trying to remember how to play the guitar. I had one when I was like 12 years old .....
I have a goal to be able to play the music in church next year when the organist goes with the youth on the annual mission trip.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
A person just learning an instrument will take little steps, but as long as he's diligent and practices the right way,sooner or later they'll take a giant step to the next level.
And no matter how long you play you'll never be satisfied with your ability and will always work to improve. You start out thinking, "If I could play like that...". But when you do play "like that" you feel it's not good enough as your sights are set on a higher goal.
I liked this by MITSUKO UCHIDA. Very impressive and no sheet music...wow.
Standard practice in Western Art Music (the word "Classical" is actually used to describe an historical period in this musical tradition) is for a soloist to perform major works from memory.
Exceptions are world premieres of new works, or if a soloist was called in as a last-minute substitute. It's not a hard and fast "rule," but it is a convention that most adhere to.
This soloist is quite good. Very disciplined and artistic, with few histrionics. (I can't stand watching soloists who look like they're 'sexing up' their instruments in performance). Since the tradition dictates that no liberties be taken with the notes printed on the page, the hallmark of a great soloist is what they do with the notes. How they shape a phrase, how they push/pull the tempo, the amount of 'volume shading' they use, etc. I always go for the tasteful traditionalists who "take us inside the piece." She did a great job of that.
lol
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