Jazz Life 2673751 (West Germany), no release date given; 1938-'39 recordings.
Sixteen solo piano renditions by Art Tatum, considered the finest pianist in jazz right up until his death in the early 1950's. Fats Waller's famous disclaimer "I just play piano, but God is in the house tonight", when Tatum appeared one night at his club gig says it all, really. It's said that the great Oscar Peterson dedicated his life and career to playing as much like Tatum as he could manage, and never really felt he'd accomplished that, as great as he was. The present album, with tracks recorded in Hollywood in 1938-'39, contains "Fine And Dandy", "I've Got The World On A String", "I've Got A Right To Sing The Blues", "I'm Coming Virginia" (popularized by Bix Beiderbecke), "Day In, Day Out", "Make Believe", "Indiana", "Sweet Lorraine", "I'll Get By", "I'll Never Be The Same", "Judy", "Body And Soul", "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm", and others.
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