Friday, March 23, 2007


Art Tatum: Elegie [1940]

from a theme by Jules Massenet

Speaking of great Arthurs... If you've never heard this before, you're in for a treat. Something extremely awesome happens at the 2:10 mark, to wit: five centuries of American history roll backwards in time at light speed.

taken from this CD

recorded on February 22, 1940, in sunny Los Angeles, California

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hear you, Emmett, all the way from the back row.

When I was about ten years old i bought three albums from a Public Library Sale: one was an Art Tatum retrospective; one was by Grover Washington Jr.; and the third will remain a carefully guarded secret.

The first two LPs cost me 15p, the third, 50p - but it was a double album, and it was on Stax.

My friends all thought i was absolutely crazy, but that Library was a real Aladdin's Cave and it was from there I first heard a lot of things which have stayed with me ever since. Nice one.

Anonymous said...

Just noticed this comment could have been posted on Walton's Mountain - must've been getting a tad maudlin after that 2nd bottle of wine.

The double LP on Stax is the only one still in my posession. I don't think "Ellegie" was on that Art Tatum album, as a matter of fact. But it's very cool.