'God Is In the House' | Lehmstedt, Mark

Ever since his first appearance in New York City in 1932, Art Tatum has been regarded as the most important pianist in the history of jazz. His technique took the breath away even from concert pianists of the calibre of Horowitz, his touch was of unparalleled lightness and elegance, and his improvisations across the entire harmonic spectrum put him decades ahead of his time. For the first time this book in detail reconstructs the often blurred traces of the life of the Afro American piano virtuoso from Toledo, Ohio. Based on the stories of many contemporaries and fellow musicians and on countless reports in the daily press and jazz journals, a fascinating portrait emerges of a unique artist and the pulsating world of jazz of his time. 'The late Fats Waller, no mean keyboard genius himself, halted a show at the Greenwich Village Inn in New York one night to announce dramatically in the presence of his friend: 'I play the piano, but God is in the house.'' (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1947) 'Art Tatum showed what it is like to live in a world where all doors are open.' (Tom Piazza, 1996)