''God Is in the House'' is an album by pianist

Art Tatum Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...

. It is a collection of informally recorded club performances from 1940 and 1941, and was first released by Onyx Records in 1973. It won two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

Recording and music

Jerry Newman was a student and jazz fan in New York City. He used a disc recorder and

acetate disc An acetate disc (also known as a ''lacquer'', ''test acetate'', '' dubplate'', or ''transcription disc'') is a type of phonograph record generally used from the 1930s to the late 1950s for recording and broadcast purposes and still in limited use ...

s to informally record pianist

playing in clubs in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

in 1940 and 1941. Three of the performances are Tatum playing solo on November 11, 1940. On March 7, 1941, he was recorded with Reuben Harris hitting whiskbrooms against a suitcase. On July 26 of the same year, further duets, this time with Chocolate Williams on bass and vocals, were recorded; Tatum also sang on two of the pieces – "Knockin' Myself Out" and "Toledo Blues". " There'll Be Some Changes Made", with Williams and vocalist Ollie Potter, was made the following day. The trio of Tatum, trumpeter

Frankie Newton Frankie Newton (William Frank Newton, January 4, 1906 – March 11, 1954) was an American jazz trumpeter from Emory, Virginia, United States. He played in several New York City bands in the 1920s and 1930s, including those led by Sam Wooding, Chic ...

, and bassist Ebenezer Paul was recorded playing " Lady Be Good" and "

Sweet Georgia Brown "Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard composed in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, with lyrics by Kenneth Casey. History Reportedly, Ben Bernie came up with the concept for the song's lyrics – although he is not the credited lyricis ...

" on September 16.

Release and reception

The title of the album comes from a story involving Tatum and fellow pianist Fats Waller. When Waller was playing in a club one night and saw Tatum walk in, he announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, I play the piano, but God is in the house tonight." The album was released on LP by Onyx Records in 1973, and was produced by Newman and Don Schlitten. HighNote Records issued a CD version in 1998. Tatum, who died in 1956, was awarded the 1973 Grammy for Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist for his performances on the album.

Dan Morgenstern Dan Morgenstern (born October 24, 1929) is a jazz writer, editor, archivist, and producer. He is the son of the German-language Jewish author Soma Morgenstern. Morgenstern was raised in Vienna and Copenhagen and arrived in the United States in ...

won the

Grammy Award for Best Album Notes The Grammy Award – Best Album Notes has been presented since 1964. From 1973 to 1976 (the 15th through 18th Awards), a second award was presented for Best Album Notes – Classical. Those awards are listed under those years below. The award recog ...

. Critic Doug Ramsey wrote in 2015: "I'm recommending it now out of concern that some of you may have deprived yourselves of these indispensable snapshots of Tatum's genius." The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

reviewer commented that the recordings had higher audio quality than other Newman releases, and described the album as "Highly recommended."

Track listing

Side one #"

Georgia on My Mind "Georgia on My Mind" is a 1930 song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell and first recorded that same year by Hoagy Carmichael. However, the song has been most often associated with soul singer Ray Charles, who was a native of the U ...

" #" Beautiful Love" #"Laughing at Life" #"

Sweet Lorraine "Sweet Lorraine" is a popular song with music by Cliff Burwell and words by Mitchell Parish that was published in 1928 and has become a jazz standard. It is written in F major and has an AABA structure. A version by Teddy Wilson charted in Octobe ...

" #" Fine and Dandy" #"

Begin the Beguine "Begin the Beguine" is a popular song written by Cole Porter. Porter composed the song between Kalabahi, Indonesia, and Fiji during a 1935 Pacific cruise aboard Cunard's ocean liner ''Franconia''. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Kni ...

" #" Mighty Lak a Rose" #"Knockin' Myself Out" Side two #"Toledo Blues" #" Body and Soul" #" There'll Be Some Changes Made" #" Lady Be Good" #"

" Source:

Personnel

– piano, vocals (tracks 1–8, 2–1) *Reuben Harris – percussion (tracks 1–4, 1–5, 1–6) * Chocolate Williams – bass (tracks 1–7, 1–8, 2–1, 2–2, 2–3), vocals (tracks 1–7, 1–8, 2–1, 2–2) * Ollie Potter – vocals (track 2–3) *

– trumpet (tracks 2–4, 2–5) *Ebenezer Paul – bass (tracks 2–4, 2–5)

References

{{reflist Art Tatum albums Grammy Award-winning albums