Editing Art Tatum (section)

===1938–1949===
In March 1938, Tatum and his wife embarked on the ''[[RMS Queen Mary|Queen Mary]]'' for England.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=102}} He performed there for three months, and enjoyed the quiet listeners who, unlike some American audiences, did not talk over his playing.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=102}} While in England, he appeared twice on the [[BBC Television]] program ''[[Starlight (TV series)|Starlight]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=April 15, 1938 |title=Television: Sunday, April 17, to Saturday, April 23 |url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/RT-TV-1938.pdf |magazine=[[Radio Times]] |page=21 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=April 19, 1938 |title=Broadcasting |work=[[The Times]] |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=April 21, 1938 |title=Broadcasting |work=[[The Times]] |page=10}}</ref> Four of his very limited number of compositions were also published in Britain.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=103}} He then returned to the Three Deuces.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=103}} The overseas trip appeared to have boosted his reputation, particularly with the white public, and he was able to have club residencies of at least several weeks at a time in New York over the following few years, sometimes with stipulations that no food or drink be served while he was playing.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=103–105}}

[[File:Art Tatum and Phil Moore, Downbeat, New York, N.Y., between 1946 and 1948 (William P. Gottlieb).jpg|thumb|right|Tatum (right) at Downbeat Club, New York, c. 1947]]
Tatum recorded 16 sides in August 1938, but they were not released for at least a decade.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=107}} A similar thing happened the next year: of the 18 sides he recorded, only two were issued as [[Phonograph record|78s]].{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=142}} A possible explanation is that the increasing popularity of big band music and vocalists limited the demand for solo recordings.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=143}} One of the releases, a version of "Tea for Two", was added to the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] in 1986.<ref name="Grammy online" /> One recording from early in 1941, however, was commercially successful, with sales of perhaps 500,000.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=143}} This was "Wee Baby Blues", performed by a sextet and with the addition of [[Big Joe Turner]] on vocals.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=143}} Informal performances of Tatum's playing in 1940 and 1941 were released decades later on the album ''[[God Is in the House (Art Tatum album)|God Is in the House]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/god-is-in-the-house-mw0000601802 |first=Scott |last=Yanow |title= Art Tatum – God Is in the House |website=AllMusic |access-date=October 13, 2018}}</ref> for which he was posthumously awarded the 1973 [[Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo|Grammy for Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/16th-annual-grammy-awards |title=Winners – 16th Annual Grammy Awards (1973) |website=grammy.com |access-date=October 13, 2018}}</ref> The album title came from Waller's reaction when he saw Tatum enter the club where Waller was performing: "I only play the piano, but tonight God is in the house."<ref name="NPR" />

Tatum was able to earn a more than adequate living from his club performances.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=143}} ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine suggested that he could make at least $300 a week as a soloist in 1943;<ref>{{cite magazine |date=June 19, 1943 |title=Negro Units Riding High |magazine=The Billboard |volume=55 |issue=25 |page=18}}</ref> when he formed a trio later that year, it was advertised by booking agents at $750 a week.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=July 24, 1943 |title=Art Tatum Forms Trio for Lounges; Asks $750 |magazine=The Billboard |volume=55 |issue=30 |page=26}}</ref> The other musicians in the trio were guitarist [[Tiny Grimes]] and bassist [[Slam Stewart]].{{sfn|Howlett|1982|p=x}} They were a commercial success on 52nd Street, attracting more customers than any other musician, with the possible exception of vocalist [[Billie Holiday]], and they also appeared briefly on film, in an episode of ''[[The March of Time]]''.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=151}} Up to that point, critics had praised Tatum as a solo pianist, but the paying public had given him relatively little attention; with the trio, he enjoyed more popular success, although some critics expressed disappointment.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=152}} Nevertheless, Tatum was awarded ''[[Esquire Magazine|Esquire]]'' magazine's prize for pianists in its 1944 critics' poll, which led to his playing alongside other winners at the [[Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street)|Metropolitan Opera House]] in New York.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=157}}

All of Tatum's 1944 studio recordings were with the trio, and radio appearances continued.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=158–159}} He abandoned the trio in 1944,{{sfn|Howlett|1982|pp=x–xi}} possibly at an agent's behest, and did not record with one again for eight years.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=163}} Early in 1945, ''Billboard'' reported that the Downbeat Club on 52nd Street was paying Tatum $1,150 a week to play four 20-minute sets per night as a soloist.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=February 17, 1945 |title=Name-itis Hits 52d Street – May End in Big Dough Era |magazine=The Billboard |volume=27 |issue=7 |page=24 }}</ref><ref name="BB45">{{cite magazine |last=Marvin |first=Wanda |date=February 17, 1945 |title=Art Tatum |magazine=The Billboard |volume=27 |issue=7 |pages=23, 33 }}</ref> This was described much later as an "unheard-of figure" for the time.<ref>{{cite book |last=DeVeaux |first=Scott |title=The Birth of Bebop |url=https://archive.org/details/birthofbebopsoci00deve |url-access=registration |year=1997 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-21665-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/birthofbebopsoci00deve/page/384 384–385]}}</ref> The ''Billboard'' reviewer commented, "Tatum is given a broken-down instrument, some bad lights and nothing else", and observed that he was almost inaudible beyond the front seating because of the audience noise.<ref name="BB45" />

[[File:Art Tatum, ca. May 1946 (William P. Gottlieb 08311).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Tatum in 1946]]
Aided by name recognition from his record sales and reduced entertainer availability because of the [[World War II]] draft, Tatum began to play in more formal jazz concert settings in 1944,<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Smith |first=Bill |date=October 28, 1944 |title=Vaude Opening to Combos |magazine=The Billboard |volume=56 |issue=44 |page=24}}</ref> appearing at concert halls in towns and universities all around the United States.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=182}} The venues were much larger than jazz clubs – some had capacities in excess of 3,000 people<ref>{{cite magazine |date=October 20, 1945 |title=Tatum Longhair Dates Look OK for Plenty $$$ |magazine=The Billboard |volume=57 |issue=42 |page=32 }}</ref> – allowing Tatum to earn more money for much less work.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=182}} Despite the more formal concert settings, Tatum preferred not to adhere to a set program of pieces for these performances.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 11, 1945 |title=Art Tatum, Jazz Pianist, in First Local Concert |work=[[Star Tribune]] |page=15}}</ref> He recorded with the [[Barney Bigard]] Sextet and cut nine solo tracks in 1945.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=163}}

A fellow pianist from the years after World War II estimated that Tatum routinely drank two quarts (1.9 L) of whiskey and a [[Case (goods)|case]] of beer over the course of 24 hours.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=178}}{{refn|group=note|A "case" of beer often refers to 24 beers, but there is not an official standard.}} Almost all reports are that such drinking did not hinder his playing.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=62, 72, 77}} Rather than being deliberately or uncontrollably self-destructive, this habit was probably a product of his being careless about his health, a not uncommon characteristic of jazz musicians, and his enthusiasm for life.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=32}}

Performances at concert settings continued in the second half of the 1940s, including participation in [[Norman Granz]]–produced [[Jazz at the Philharmonic]] events.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=182–183}} In 1947, Tatum again appeared on film, in ''[[The Fabulous Dorseys]]''.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=175–176}} [[Columbia Records]] recorded and released a 1949 concert at the [[Shrine Auditorium]] in Los Angeles as ''[[Gene Norman Presents an Art Tatum Concert]]''.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 29, 1952 |title=Tatum and Goodman |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |page=36}}</ref> In the same year, he signed to [[Capitol Records]] and recorded 26 pieces for it.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=184}} He also played for the first time at Club Alamo in Detroit, but stopped when a black friend was not served.<ref name="before" /> The owner subsequently advertised that black customers were welcome, and Tatum played there frequently in the next few years.<ref name="before">{{cite book |last1=Bjorn |first1=Lars |last2=Gallert|first2=Jim|title=Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K11GJ-xaEcoC&pg=PA117 |access-date=September 11, 2018 |year=2001 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=0-472-06765-6 |page=117 }}</ref>

Although Tatum remained an admired figure, his popularity waned in the mid-to-late 1940s, likely due in large part to the advent of [[bebop]],{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=164}} a musical style he did not embrace.<ref name="Edey" />