Editor's note: we sincerely apologize for the disruption in our usual weekly publication schedule. We recently welcomed a new staff member at the Simpsonian and are very busy training him—we're confident that he'll one day become a valued addition to the team, especially once he can feed, bathe, and clothe himself.

If someone says, "you have to listen to this," and the recording begins with a staticy hiss (as this one does), how should you react? In my opinion, you should be elated. Think of it this way: in 2025, we enjoy a surfeit of extremely high-quality audio recordings; if you want to hear a world-class pianist performing in optimal studio conditions, they're not in short supply. So if, despite that, someone recommends a low-quality recording, there must be something very special about the content. Piano Starts Here falls squarely into that camp.

Unfortunately I lack the time to dive deep into Tatum's life, so I'll confine myself to the basics: he plays like a man possessed, which you can confirm for yourself by listening to thirty seconds of his music. Many regard him as the greatest jazz pianist ever to have lived; many renowned pianists cite him as a formative influence. But what's more impressive to me is his legacy as an anti-influence: Wikipedia has a paragraph on all the musicians who heard Tatum play and found the skill gap so disheartening they gave up the piano entirely. One such flunky was Les Paul, so arguably Art Tatum invented the electric guitar?

Tatum's playing reminds me of only one other pianist: Vladimir Horowitz. Horowitz holds a special place in my heart because I stumbled upon him by pure chance: I purchased a used album of his from my local library on a whim and had my socks thoroughly knocked off the first time I listened to it. The best simile I can offer is that Horowitz's playing (especially in the upper register on the right hand) is like water pouring from a handcrafted teapot: a flow so steady, swift, and perfect that there's no telling where one note ends and the next begins. Tatum is the only other pianist I've heard who can match that lofty bar, and as it so happens, the two were contemporaries; I was delighted to read about some of their encounters here.

Favourite track: St. Louis Blues¹