Art Tatum By David Stone Martin

(photo:Gjon Mili; bassist-Oscar Pettiford)

There is no doubt that Art Tatum is the greatest pianist that ever lived. If you’ve never heard his music, go get some a.s.a.p. This particular David Stone Martin illustration is interesting as a real study of his minimalistic drawing style as you can see from the Gjon Mili photo that it was taken from.

View Art Tatum YouTube Video

Order Art Tatum CD From Amazon

Rare Nat King Cole Photo

This rare photo of Nat Cole came from the scrapbook of my guitar teacher John Collins. John was Nat’s guitarist from 1951-1965 and also played with Art Tatum, Billie Holiday, Slam Stewart, Dizzy Gillespie, and many other pioneers of swing & bebop. This photo was taken while on tour in 1959 and is a rare glimpse of a very informal Nat Cole behind the scenes.