Editing Art Tatum (section)

===1950–1956===
Tatum began working with a trio again in 1951.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Webman |first=Hal |date=May 26, 1951 |title=Rhythm and Blues Notes |magazine=The Billboard |volume=63 |issue=21 |page=32}}</ref> The trio – this time with bassist Stewart and guitarist [[Everett Barksdale]] – recorded in 1952.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=203–204}} In the same year, Tatum toured the U.S. with fellow pianists [[Erroll Garner]], [[Pete Johnson (musician)|Pete Johnson]], and [[Meade Lux Lewis]], for concerts billed as "Piano Parade".<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Komara |editor-first=Edward| title=Encyclopedia of the Blues |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediablue00koma |url-access=limited |year=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn= 978-0-415-92699-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediablue00koma/page/n664 600]}}</ref>

[[File:Norman Granz, ca. Nov. 1947.jpg|thumb|upright|Jazz impresario [[Norman Granz]], who recorded Tatum extensively in 1953–1956]]
Tatum's four-year absence from the recording studios as a soloist ended when Granz, who owned [[Clef Records]], decided to record his solo playing in a way that was "unprecedented in the recording industry: invite him into the studio, start the tape, and let him play whatever he felt like playing. [...] At the time this was an astonishing enterprise, the most extensive recording that had been done of any jazz figure."{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=203–205}} Over several sessions starting late in 1953, Tatum recorded 124 solo tracks, all but three of which were released, spread over a total of 14 LPs.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=205}} Granz reported that the recording tape ran out during one piece, but Tatum, instead of starting again from the beginning, asked to listen to a playback of just the final eight bars, then continued the performance from there on the new tape, keeping to the same tempo as on the first attempt.<ref name="Granz">{{cite book |last=Hershorn |first=Tad |title=Norman Granz |year=2011 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-26782-4 |at=chapter 10 }}</ref> Clef released the solo pieces as ''[[The Genius of Art Tatum]]'',<ref name="Granz" /> which was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978.<ref name="Grammy online">{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/hall-of-fame |title=Grammy Hall of Fame |website=grammy.com |access-date=October 22, 2018 |date=October 19, 2010 }}</ref>

Granz also recorded Tatum with a selection of other stars in seven more recording sessions, which led to 59 tracks being released.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=205}} The critical reception was mixed and partly contradictory.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=207}} Tatum was, variously, criticized for not playing real jazz, the choice of material, and being past his best, and praised for the enthralling intricacy and detail of his playing, and his technical perfection.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=207–209}} Nevertheless, the releases renewed attention on him, including for a newer generation; he won ''[[DownBeat]]'' magazine's critics' poll for pianists three years in a row from 1954 (he never won a ''DownBeat'' readers' poll).{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=157, 213}}

Following a deterioration in his health, Tatum stopped drinking in 1954 and tried to control his weight.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=215}} That year, his trio was part of bandleader [[Stan Kenton]]'s 10-week tour named "Festival of Modern American Jazz".<ref>{{cite magazine |date=September 11, 1954 |title=Kenton Jazz Festival Set for 10 Weeks |magazine=The Billboard |volume=66 |issue=37 |pages=19, 24}}</ref><ref name="Sparke">{{cite book |last=Sparke |first=Michael |title=Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra! |url=https://archive.org/details/stankentonthisis00spar |year=2010 |publisher=University of North Texas Press |isbn=978-1-57441-284-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/stankentonthisis00spar/page/122 122–123] }}</ref> The trio did not play with Kenton's orchestra on the tour,<ref name="Sparke" /> but had the same performance schedule, meaning Tatum sometimes traveled long distances by overnight train while the others stayed in a hotel and took a morning flight.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=213–214}} He also appeared on television in ''[[The Spike Jones Show (series)|The Spike Jones Show]]'' on April 17, to promote the imminent release of ''The Genius of Art Tatum''.<ref name="Doerschuk09" /><ref>Hollywood Reporter staff (April 16, 1954). [http://www.mediafire.com/view/uxmhimqi7zrdxrj "TV-Radio Briefs"]. ''The Hollywood Reporter''.</ref> Black American musicians were not often filmed at this time, so very few visual recordings of Tatum exist,<ref>{{cite book |last=Priestley |first=Brian |title= Chasin' the Bird |year=2005 |publisher=Equinox Publishing |isbn=978-1-84553-036-5 |page=2}}</ref> but his solo performance of "[[Yesterdays (1933 song)|Yesterdays]]" on the show has survived as a video recording.<ref name="Doerschuk09">{{cite magazine |last=Doerschuk |first=Robert |date=January 2009 |title=Marathon Gifts |magazine=DownBeat |volume=76 |issue=1 |page=94 }}</ref>

After two decades of marriage, Tatum and Ruby divorced early in 1955.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=202}} They probably did not travel much together, and she had become an alcoholic; the divorce was acrimonious.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=99}} Later that year, he married Geraldine Williamson, with whom he had probably already been living.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=202}} She had little interest in music, and did not normally attend his performances.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=203}}

By 1956, Tatum's health had deteriorated due to advanced [[uremia]].{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=216}} Nevertheless, in August of that year he played to the largest audience of his career: 19,000 gathered at the [[Hollywood Bowl]] for another Granz-led event.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=216}} The next month, he had the last of the Granz group recording sessions, with saxophonist [[Ben Webster]], and then played at least two concerts in October.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=216–217}} He was too unwell to continue touring, so returned to his home in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=217}} Musicians visited him on November 4, and other pianists played for him as he lay in bed.{{sfn|Lester|1994|pp=217–218}}

Tatum died the next day at [[Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center|Queen of Angels Medical Center]] in Los Angeles from uremia.{{sfn|Spencer|2002|p=43}} He was buried at [[Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery|Rosedale Cemetery]] in Los Angeles{{sfn|Lester|1994|p=219}} but was moved to the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn]] cemetery in [[Glendale, California]], in 1992<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Scott |title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons |year=2016 |edition=3rd  |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0-7864-5098-5 |page=733}}</ref> by his second wife, so she could be buried next to him.<ref name="Grave">{{cite book |last1=Burk |first1=Margaret |last2=Hudson |first2=Gary |title=Final Curtain: Eternal Resting Places of Hundreds of Stars, Celebrities, Moguls, Misers & Misfits |year=1996 | publisher=Seven Locks Press |isbn=978-0-929765-53-2 |page=109 }}</ref> Tatum was inducted into the ''DownBeat'' Jazz Hall of Fame in 1964<ref>{{cite web|url=http://downbeat.com/archives/detail/downbeat-hall-of-fame |title=DownBeat Hall of Fame |website=Downbeat.com |access-date=January 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919125251/https://downbeat.com/archives/detail/downbeat-hall-of-fame |archive-date=September 19, 2020}}</ref> and given a [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]] in 1989.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/lifetime-awards |title=Lifetime Achievement Award |website=grammy.com |access-date=October 13, 2018 |date=October 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103090616/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/lifetime-achievement-awards |archive-date=November 3, 2020}}</ref>