Art Tatum was the greatest
jazz pianist of all time. He pioneered in the areas of
stride and
swing. He was noted for his incredible
virtuosity, his
inventive harmonic language, and his
improvisations on works by
Chopin. A
mentor and
friend of the famous
Oscar Peterson, he spent a lot of time playing at the
Onyx Club on
52nd Street in
New York. His audience often contained such
luminaries of the
piano as
Vladimir Horowitz,
Walter Gieseking,
Leopold Godowsky. Sadly, he died in 1956, far too early.
My Everything user name is Art Tatum, as you can see. Unfortunately, I am nowhere near as great a pianist as this man. My user name (both here and on Slashdot) is a tribute to this legendary pianist.