Piano Styles in Transition

Earl “Fatha” Hines

Art Tatum

Erroll Garner

The piano

Percussion, melody, harmony

James P. Johnson Fats Waller Earl “Fatha” Hines Art Tatum Erroll Garner

Art Tatum was the most awe-inspiring

These three created points of departure for Oscar Peterson Bill Evans Keith Jarrett Cecil Taylor

Earl “Fatha” Hines

Earl Kenneth “Fatha’ Hines 1905-1983

Active from WW I through 1983

Classical training with an ability to read notation

Earl “Fatha” Hines

Contributions include

Solos on piano rolls in 1928

His band provided training for bebop innovators Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie

Born in Duquesne, PA 12-18-1905

Earl “Fatha” Hines

Father was a musician, stepmother was church organist

Had great ability to sight-read and transpose

Moved to Chicago in 1923

1928 Grand Terrace Ballroom - Kathryn Perry

Earl “Fatha” Hines

1947 - Janie Moses

1966 - Pope Paul VI

1969 - Ellington White House birthday party

1976 - state dinner with the President of France

Music

Piano style based on ragtime and stride

Technique includes

Hornlike melodies

Octave melodies

Inventive rhythmic textures

Listening Guide to
“Fifty-seven Varieties” 1928

0.00 8 measure melody, LH plays ragtime

0.08 8 measure phrase complements the first

0.17 first 16 bars repeated

0.33 new melody and new chords presented in 2 - 8 measure phrases

0.48 last section - 16 measures

1.04 Interlude

1.32 complex interplay between l and r hand

1.36 descending phrase in rh; chords from the B section

1.44 descending phrase again, interplay between hands

1.59 sharp dissonance

2.05 complex interplay

2.15 another interplay

2.29 rh plays a shout

2.51 complicated rhythmic interplay

3.01 final rhythmic interplay

3.07 end

Art Tatum
1909 - 1956

Partially blind; self
taught

Debut in 1932 as
accompanist for
Adelaide Hall

Formed his own trio
in 1943

Jazz piano diety

Horowitz, Rubenstein
Rachmaninoff

Did not compose

Get Happy SCJP 2-2
by Harold Arlen

Art Tatum

A virtuoso

fast melodies

1949 concert recording of I Know That You Know taken at 450 beats per minute (around 1000 notes per minute)

Bartok at Val’s in Cleveland

staff pianist at WSPD in Toledo - 1927

“cutting contests”

Mastered every known piano style

Art Tatum

Preferred American songs, esp. Gershwin

Guarded his personal life

Died in 1956 of a kidney ailment

“Willow Weep for Me”

0.00 Intro; vamp

0.09 melody with embellishments (A)

0.23 melody repeats with variations

0.41 vamp

0.46 minor key section, ragtime bass, lush chords

0.56 lh runs; fast scales

1.07 repeat of A, last part of 1st chorus

1.22 vamp

1.27 2nd chorus begins (A), variations on blues theme

1.39 brief return of ragtime bass

1.49 repeat of (A), variations on blues idea

2.00 ragtime bass

2.11 (B) section

2.22 fast technique begins in lh; stop time in rh

2.32 last section (A)

2.41 coda; gets faster

2.53 end

“Sophisticated Lady”

0.00 opening theme (A)

0.16 second phrase; lh ragtime pattern

0.32 bridge (B); falling motive

0.49 last phrase completing AABA form

1.00 double-time melodic idea

1.15 unison melodic lines in both hands

1.34 syncopated statement of of (A)

1.47 highly embellished improv

2.07 fast melodic lines

2.37 melody in rh with chordal harmonization

3.04 texture thins and tempo relaxes

3.13 end

“Willow Weep for Me”

Art Tatum
1910-1956

Art Tatum 1910-1956

Technique:

frequent use of 10ths, sometimes played stride with full chords on all 4 beats

rapid runs and technically elaborate

fastest stride piano ever

most complex harmony of all swing stylists

dazzling

b. 1910 in Toledo, blind at birth (cataracts)

career centered in Toledo until 1932

first solo recordings made in 1932

Art Tatum

worked with Slam Stewart (bass) and Tiny Grimes (guitar)

1943 mainly as a soloist

1950s recorded for Norman Granz

“Aunt Hagar’s Blues” one of his greatest recordings

speed - “Tiger Rag” = 370 beats per minute (around 1000 notes a minute)

Horowitz

Art Tatum

Bartok

“Cutting Contests”

Listening:

JP Vol II, #2 “Get Happy”, #3 “Aunt Hagar’s Blues”, #4 Have You Met Miss Jones?”, #5 “Jitterbug Waltz”, #6 “Sweet Lorraine”

SCCJ CD II, #13 “Willow

Erroll Garner 1921 - 1977

Considered a genius

Age 2 1/2

Never learned to read music

Play 2 different rhythms with each hand

Composed songs in his head

Able to record without rehearsals or retakes

“Fantasy on ‘Frankie and Johnny’”

0.00 intro

0.10 rhythmic pattern in lh

0.17 counterpoint

0.25 vamp lh chords in rh

0.43 melody in upper register, stride in lh

0.53 tight chords around melody

1.04 stride texture; dissonances in rh

1.37 boom-chuck pattern with blues ornamenting the rh melody

1.59 modulation half step higher

2.09 counterpoint

2.19 modulation up one key; each hand independent

2.35 ending

2.52 end