Fans of jazz piano and Art Tatum in particular have reason to rejoice, as Jewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings offers 39 previously unreleased performances from Tatum’s trio with guitarist Everett Barksdale and bassist Slam Stewart. Recorded by the Blue Note Jazz Club’s proprietor Frank Holzfeind, this set is a major discovery that deepens a persistently undervalued side of the pianist’s artistry. Collected on three LPs for Record Store Day by Resonance Records, this exquisitely detailed Zev Feldman production is available now on three compact discs and digitally on Bandcamp.
Born in 1909, Art Tatum’s style evolved from stride piano as exemplified by Fats Waller, James P. Johnson, Willie “The Lion” Smith, and Luckey Roberts. Importantly, he was also impacted by the innovations of his contemporary Earl “Fatha” Hines. When assessing the key influences on Modern Jazz piano, Hines and Tatum hover at the top of the list.
The Smithsonian Collection Of Classic Jazz includes two selections by Tatum, both featuring him solo. As a student of stride, Tatum was a technical powerhouse with great stamina who thrived without accompaniment. Lennie Tristano was once quoted as saying that Tatum and Hines were the only two pianists who could deliver jazz’s essential swing while playing alone, and solo is the mode for which Tatum remains most celebrated.
Indeed, even during a trio engagement such as this one, captured by Holzfeind on August 16–28, 1953, Tatum acquiesced to play a few tracks solo; at the Blue Note, it was “Humoresque,” “Begin the Beguine,” “Someone to Watch Over Me,” and “Elegy,” all revealing him in solid form. It’s notable that the cuts on the Smithsonian collection were recorded in 1949 for Capitol (“Willow Weep for Me”) and in ’56 at a private party (“Too Marvelous for Words”). Interestingly, one of Tatum’s signature solo tunes, “Tea for Two” is tackled on Jewels in the Treasure Box by the trio.
Tatum debuted solo for the Brunswick label in 1933. His first trio was formed a decade later with Stewart on bass and Tiny Grimes on guitar and was quickly disbanded (not for lack of success). Records were issued by Comet, Asch Recordings and much later in the decade, Brunswick again and Dial. Tatum returned to the configuration in ’51, bringing back the distinctive Stewart as Barksdale stepped into the guitar spot.
The second trio stuck together for a while and can be heard on both volumes of Tatum’s The Complete Capitol Recordings. Still, solo material continued to proliferate, both for Capitol and particularly through the auspices of Jazz at the Philharmonic empresario Norman Granz, who recorded him extensively during the period.
At 35 selections (excluding the four solo requests), Jewels in the Treasure Box is a monumental expansion of Tatum’s trio work, highlighting how his approach to improvising differed from the method of the young Bop innovators. Instead of dishing an establishing melodic theme and then improvising the chord changes (an oversimplification of Bop execution), Tatum, who was notably not a composer, improvised the melodies, staying true to the essence of the tunes by keeping them recognizable while also gifting the works the personal stamp of Art Tatum.
If not a bop stylist, Tatum was no mid-century anachronism. To return to the association with Granz, the promoter loved players from pre-Bop eras who could productively mingle in the contemporary Modern Jazz environment. Outside of Granz’s organizational sphere, Jewels in the Treasure Box provides vivid, extended portraiture of how Tatum was such a comfortable fit into the ’50s scheme. Furthermore, many of the original Bop groundbreakers are on record as being in thrall to Tatum’s artistry. The testimonials Feldman has collected in the booklet for this set make plain the pianist is still held in high regard.
Using the same instrumentation, Tatum’s group can bring the trios of Nat Cole to mind and specifically the Hittin’ the Ramp box set Feldman produced for Resonance back in 2019. And not just the chosen instruments; there’s considerable compositional overlap including “Tea for Two.” But Cole was more about finesse; the intensity of Tatum, a true two-fisted key striker, can always be felt, even when he’s dishing beauty moves (which is often).
By the year of these recordings, Cole’s trio was long done; another major difference is Barksdale’s more Modern guitar sensibility, if purely of an early ’50s vintage (meaning he’s not whipping out lines like Grant Green). Soloing arco a lot (a whole lot) and also vocalizing along, Stewart is a bit of a wild card across these six sides, lending an additional layer of uniqueness to the whole.
Tatum’s sincere appreciation of the tunes he chose puts him in the company of jazz icons Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal, and Sonny Rollins (the latter two reflect on Tatum’s greatness in the booklet). But Jewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings shows he could get deep into the blues zone (“St. Louis Blues” is a highlight here) and of course, really let it fly (a clear influence on Oscar Peterson, who also led trios without a drummer). It’s an utter treat to hear Tatum playing so fantastically in a club that treated him with due respect.
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