I was asked by my son to retell the story of the jazz virtuoso pianist who was asked by a visiting musician if he (the guest) could join in on a jam session. The master complied and broke into a familiar piece in a strange and difficult key and the guest was so blown away he didn’t even know where to come in.
That’s the bare bones of the story. I remember it as being Art Tatum (as the old master) and the piece being Tenderly (or perhaps Cherokee) and the key being B Natural. I can’t remember who the upstart would have been, but I remember it as the guy being pretty well thought of before that encounter.
Web searches have failed to confirm my suspicions, so I thought I’d give the jazz Dopers a chance to set me straight.
If you know of similar stories where the wannabe player is just blown off the stage by the old pro, they might be fun to share, too.
Could it be a version of the story where Donald Lambert challenged Art Tatum in front of a bunch of pianists?
Or it could be based on the story of Tatum’s rise - “A major event in Tatum’s meteoric rise to success was his appearance at a cutting contest in 1933 in New York City that included Waller, Johnson and Willie “The Lion” Smith. Standard contest pieces included Johnson’s “Harlem Strut” and “Carolina Shout” and Fats Waller’s “Handful of Keys.” Tatum triumphed with his arrangements of “Tea for Two” and “Tiger Rag”, in a performance which was considered to be the last word in stride piano. Tatum’s debut was historic because he outplayed the elite competition and heralded the demise of the stride era. He was not challenged further until stride specialist Donald Lambert initiated a half-serious rivalry with him.” - from the Wiki article on Art Tatum
I can tell you one story that’s sort of the opposite - a young buck making a surprisingly good impression. In the film ‘Talmage Farlow’, there’s an interview with a pianist who met Tal Farlow early on. Tal asked if he could sit in with him, and the pianist said “Yeah, okay.” without much enthusiasm. Farlow asks if he can tune up, and the pianist takes that as a good sign. Then when he’s all tuned, they go to play. Farlow strikes a chord, and the pianist stops in his tracks - he’s never heard a voicing like that before. So he turns around and says “Play that again.” Farlow plays it again and the pianist can’t quite believe it, even though he’s seeing it. He turns around and starts to play, but the whole evening, he keeps hearing these incredible harmonies that he’s never heard out of a guitarist before. I don’t remember the name of the pianist - after we’re moved and I dig all my stuff out of storage, I can look it up if anyone’s still interested by then…
Oddly enough, Chefguy, in the NPR archive of Jazz Profiles (Nancy Wilson’s show) Art Tatum: The Musician’s Musician there are some comments by Peterson as well as Billy Taylor that would suggest that Tatum may have been the guy, but they don’t rule out the possibility that it was indeed Peterson.
Also, Le Ministre de l’au-delà, I think I might have remembered Donald Lambert’s name, but this is my first hearing of it. There’s some good Tal Farlow and Lenny Breau on YouTube, too. Try this one
I probably heard (on the radio or in a TV interview) the story as opposed to reading it on liner notes, so the source could be almost anybody contemporary with Tatum (or whoever it was). Whoever the upstart was, he was supposed to be a seasoned player, which made the putdown by Tatum even more poignant. (For some reason I want to have it be Kenny G, but I know that can’t be it. Too long ago.)
Does anybody recall the particulars on the Battle of the Bands that was supposed to take place between Ellington’s band and Stan Kenton’s. Similar outcome as best I can remember. As I recall, Kenton’s guys just got back on the bus without even taking the stand.
It’s getting clear to me that the internet’s repository of the sorts of stories I’ve either read in books or magazine articles or heard on radio and TV interviews is either too poorly archived or too hard for web searches to find. At least the search words I’ve been using aren’t getting me anywhere close to an answer to the OP’s basic question.
I did locate another audio compilation of Art Tatum stories at Arts Commission of Greater Toledo (Tatum’s hometown and birthplace), but listening to the program didn’t provide anything toward the OP story.
If you happen to know of websites (blogs, recording reviews or things of that nature) where these old jazz legends and amusing stories might be found, I’d like to know about them.