1991 · Album
In Private
Recorded Informal and private recordings, various dates · Pablo · Produced by Unknown
Tatum Alone, Unguarded and Untouched
Art Tatum at the piano, no band, no audience pressure, just the music pouring out.
"In Private" is Art Tatum at the piano, mostly alone, playing the way he did when no one was asking him to perform. The 1991 release gathers material from the broader range of his recorded output, including informal and private sessions, which is why the sound feels looser and more intimate than the studio records most listeners know first.
The pianism is the reason to listen. Tatum's left hand keeps a dense, orchestral stream of harmony moving, and his right hand runs through runs and substitutions at a speed that still sounds like play rather than display. Nothing here is built for effect. You hear him trying ideas, dropping them, and returning to standards with new harmonic detours, which is exactly what makes the informal recordings worth having.
As a place to start, this is not the first Tatum album to reach for, since his commercial Decca sessions give a cleaner picture of his formal work. But for listeners who already know him and want to hear how he sounded without the record company's framing, this is a worthwhile and quite personal document of one of the most technically astonishing pianists in jazz history.
Who's playing
Art Tatumpiano
