The Complete Pablo Group Masterpieces

Presented in this 6 compact disc boxed set are the complete group recordings on the Pablo label, of the virtuosic pianist Art Tatum. The 80 selections feature the piano master with Louis Bellson, Benny Carter, Red Callender, Buddy DeFranco, Bill Douglass, Harry Edison, Roy Eldridge, Lionel Hampton, Jo Jones, Barney Kessel, Buddy Rich, John Simmons, Alvin Stoller, and Ben Webster. Made between 1954 and 1956, the bulk of these recordings were released by Pablo during the 70s as an eight record set; a ninth album was later issued separately. The package also contains a 14-page booklet, with the definitive essay by Benny Green that was part of the original LP collection. The greatest jazz stars of the '40s and '50s era converged upon Los Angeles over a two-year period (1954-56), each beckoned by Norman Granz for the purpose of this series of ad hoc group recordings with pianist Art Tatum. Granz's penchant for the preservation of the most splendid jazz of the century was palpable in his call and the motive force behind the wide summons. Among those responding were Ben Webster, Buddy DeFranco, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Lionel Hampton, Harry Edison, Louie Bellson, and so many more that the full list is almost stupefying. Clearly Art Tatum was the magnet that drew these big stars together for Granz to cut recordings, a project that such an impresario could only have envisioned in some utopian flight. Each fellow jazz scion was drawn by the honor of being Tatum's accompaniment, preserving their turns at the helm with the keyboard's master. Like the Pablo Solo Masterpieces, the selections here are all well known and therefore not just some trendy set of bop riffs made for this gig as a one-off occasion, never to be heard again. DeFranco's clarinet can only be described as seductive on the old Rudy Vallee number "Deep Night." Several cuts strip down to feature Tatum's piano with only Red Callender (bass) and Jo Jones (drums). This trio's take on "Some Other Spring" stands out, reviving for the moment the best Billie Holiday ballad ever reduced to wax. Then there are the other trim trios, with Benny Carter on alto sax and Bellson on drums for 14 tunes and Hampton on vibes and Buddy Rich on drums for almost 20 tunes. Never mind the quartets (Eldridge, John Simmons, and Alvin Stoller on one; Webster, Callender, and Bill Douglass on another), which feature dynamic interplay between the horns and Tatum. For the last chapter in Tatum's piano, the Pablo series cannot be passed by. This is the sine qua non of any serious jazz collection. --Daniel Bartlett Jr.

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