Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Tiger Rag
2. Tea for Two
3. St. Louis Blues
4. Tiger Rag
5. Sophisticated Lady
6. Moonglow
7. I Would Do Anything for You
8. When a Woman Loves a Man
9. Emaline
10. Love Me
11. Cocktails for Two
12. After You've Gone
13. Stardust
14. Ill Wind
15. Shout
16. Beautiful Love
17. Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)
18. I Ain't Got Nobody
19. Stay as Sweet as You Are
20. I Wish I Were Twins
21. Gone With the Wind
22. Stormy Weather
23. Chloe
24. Sheik of Araby
25. Tea for Two
26. Deep Purple
27. It Had to Be You

Disc 2:

1. Oh, You Crazy Moon
2. Over the Rainbow
3. Day In - Day Out
4. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
5. Elegie
6. Humoresque
7. Sweet Lorraine
8. Get Happy
9. Lullaby of the Leaves
10. Tiger Rag
11. Sweet Emaline, My Gal
12. Love Me
13. Begin the Beguine
14. Rosetta
15. (Back Home Again In) Indiana
16. Wee Baby Blues - Art Tatum,
17. Stompin' at the Savoy - Art Tatum,
18. Last Goodbye Blues - Art Tatum,
19. Battery Bounce - Art Tatum,
20. Lucillle - Art Tatum,
21. Rock Me Mama - Art Tatum,
22. Corrina, Corrina - Art Tatum,
23. Lonesome Graveyard Blues - Art Tatum,
24. I Got Rhythm
25. Mop, Mop
26. Esquire Bounce

Disc 3:

1. My Ideal
2. Exactly Like You
3. Flying Home
4. Dark Eyes
5. Body and Soul
6. I Know That You Know
7. Hallelujah
8. Yesterdays
9. Tatum Pole Boogie
10. Willow Weep for Me
11. I Cover the Waterfront
12. Aunt Hagar's Blues
13. Nice Work if You Can Get It
14. Someone to Watch Over Me
15. Dardanella
16. Time on My Hands
17. Sweet Lorraine
18. Somebody Loves Me
19. Don't Blame Me
20. My Heart Stood Still
21. You Took Advantage of Me
22. I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues

Disc 4:

1. Goin' Home
2. Blue Skies
3. It's the Talk of the Town
4. Dancing in the Dark
5. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away)
6. Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'
7. You're Driving Me Crazy
8. In a Sentimental Mood
9. She's Funny That Way
10. I'll Never Be the Same
11. Night and Day
12. It's Only a Paper Moon
13. Three Little Words
14. On the Sunny Side of the Street
15. Why Was I Born?
16. If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)
17. Mean to Me
18. I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plans
19. Can't We Be Friends?
20. What Is This Thing Called Love?
21. Crazy Rhythm
22. Limehouse Blues
23. I'm Coming Virginia
24. Man I Love

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41221 in Music
• Released on: 2003-08-18
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Import
• Dimensions: .48 pounds

Album Description
The majority of the jazz pianist's recordings during his 1932-1951 prime as a technically accomplished jazz musician are covered by this 99-track compilation. Unaccompanied solo performances are combined with recordings made with a small band featuring blues shouter Big Joe Turner, an all-star lineup of jazz greats at The Met, & the Art Tatum trio. Includes 44-page illustrated booklet with authoritative biography/musical critique & full discography details. Four standard jewel cases housed in a slipbox. Proper. 2003.

Customer Reviews

very impressive collection
This set is fascinating. Hearing Tatum rip through standard after standard and turn them inside out with his finger play provides for hours of listening pleasure. He was a very gifted pianist capable of riunning from one end of the keyboard to the other at lightning speeds. His precision is also impressive.
I would really only recommend this set with a qualification though. The vast majority of the tracks consist of solo, unbacked Tatum. There are relatively few tracks (less than a quarter of them) that have Art with any kind of back-up. Thus what you hear is mostly piano, piano, piano. The reason I mention this is that it was not clear to me at the time I bought this set that it was going to be like that. If you are interested in hearing Art in a group setting, check out his releases on the Pablo label. If you are ready to hear solo Tatum, then definitely get this collection. I almost want to thank Proper for releasing all of this important old material on these inexpensive sets.

Tatum-Unrestricted genius
Unlike the other reviewer of this material, I do feel that Art Tatum's work is at its very best when he plays alone. Other musicians simply interfere with what he does and his artistry. The great volumn of the material provided in this collection is simply overwhelming. And probably not meant to be absorbed in great quantities at one setting. It is meant to be comtemplated and to get wrapped up in little by little. Don't listen to too much at one setting; there is simply too much to concentrate on.

We will probably never see the likes of Art Tatum again. Thank goodness that we have collections such as these to listen to and tto learn from.

Excellent Box Set From a Master Pianist
Art Tatum is generally considered one of the best jazz pianists of all time. For instance, a 2001 survey of listeners of WAER of Syracuse University ranked him second, only behind Oscar Peterson. The set's informative 44 page booklet quotes jazz critic Whitney Balliet from 1968: "He was said to be the greatest jazz pianist who had ever lived and he was said to be not a jazz pianist at all. He was admired by classical pianists ... by jazz musicians, and by dazzled, tin eared laymen."

This bargain-priced box set from Proper gives you 4 CDs of Tatum's earlier recordings, covering his output from 1932 to 1951. This gets you a good sample of his music. The sound is generally good, any flaws being due to problems in the original sources. As other reviewers mentioned, the set consists mostly of solo performances. Note that this set does not include any of the famous recordings produced by Norman Granz on his Clef label in the early 1950s a few years before Tatum died; these are now available on the Pablo label.

I did not know Tatum's music at all before listening to this set. In fact, while I have over 200 Jazz CDs, I don't really have any solo Jazz piano. My initial reaction was that it all sounded kind of monotonous. I could hear that Tatum had excellent technique and did a lot of clever improvising, but I wondered whether I had made a mistake buying a 4 CD set of his music. However, the more I listen to this set, the more I appreciate Tatum's genius and musicality. I'm sure much of it is beyond me since I'm not a musician. Even so, if you listen to this set multiple times and pay close attention, you will discover lots of music to treasure. Even if you don't like it, you're only risking $26.

After I digest this set more thoroughly, I think I'll get some of the Pablo recordings too.