What are you thoughts on these pianists

[mpd210]

Art Tatum & TheVideoGamePianist (Martin Leung)

Art Tatum I believe was friends with Horowitz.
The video game pianist is popular on the web:
            https://www.videogamepianist.com/index.php?id=video <--playing blindfolded backwards
            https://www.videogamepianist.com/index.php?id=audio

[arensky]

Art Tatum was the greatest Jazz Pianist. In any style or school of Jazz. Ever. Period.

[arensky]

I am not familiar with the "Video Game Pianist", and it doesn't sound like something I would enjoy.

Horowitz would spend hours at the Three Deuces club on 52nd street, watching Tatum, and he respected and treated him as an equal. He also enjoyed the piano playing of Joe Bushkin (who passed away last year in his late 80's), Errol Garner and Willie "The Lion" Smith, and probably many other Jazz pianists. Horowitz' own "Danse Excentrique" is quite jazzy, and in the 1970's he recorded "Tea for Two" while taking a break during a Chopin recording session...I wonder where that is? Ah would like to hear it for myself... 

[countchocula]

Art Tatum was the greatest Jazz Pianist. In any style or school of Jazz. Ever. Period.

I think so too.

[stevie]

hahahahaha, this is the most hilarious combination

you think the VGP is at all comparable to tatum?

[arensky]

you think the VGP is at all comparable to tatum?

 

[stevie]

HAHAHAHAH i see the reference now

the blindfolded pianist versus the...almost blind pianist

[cfortunato]

I want to know where to get sheet music for the Mario Game.  I would loe to see the look on people's faces when it dawns on them what you are playing.

[mpd210]

No, i didn't say they were comparable. I just wanted to hear thoughts on those pianists, independent of eachother.
I agree Tatum was the greatest jazz pianist ever. thats why I wanted to hear what classical pianists had to say about him
About the video game pianist...I wasn't saying to compare him with Tatum, I just wanted to know what classical pianists though of him, thats all. Mario Bros is awesome! Haha, but I guess I forgot the kind of people in this forum. Try to keep an open mind, I know its easy (especially on this type of forum) to just think "video games? hmph, not interested." But he does have talent. "He placed third at the 2002 Oberlin International Piano Competition and has received first prizes at the Los Angeles International Liszt (1998, 2000) and at the 2004 Los Angeles Philharmonic Kaper Awards, among other competitions. A laureate of the Young Musicians Foundation and National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, he soloed at the Carnegie Hall Isaac Stern Auditorium." So maybe, after some background info...give him a chance and check out his video/audio. There's an audio of him playing Mendelssohn's Piano concerto No1 presto with the Pittsburg symphony orchestra, that might interest the pianists on this forum....
Here's also a video of him performing something after 9/11, its pretty interesting!: https://www.420megs.com/users/mpd210/Non%20classical%20music/
(the file is called VG Pianist 911.wmv)

[stevie]

ive seen it, technically impressive, but the music is competently done, but just too corny and hilarious to be taken seriously.

ill check out the classical stuff, but when talking of video game music, etc.
its like telling some chess fans about this 'awesome checkers player', if you understand the analogy.

[leahcim]

So maybe, after some background info...give him a chance and check out his video/audio. There's an audio of him playing Mendelssohn's Piano concerto No1 presto with the Pittsburg symphony orchestra, that might interest the pianists on this forum....

That's a good point.

Where I've seen the videos presented around the internet, I notice the quality is dire.

If somone posts to the audition room, generally speaking, even if their equipment isn't professional etc, some attempt appears to be made to present a piece of music for what it is. Not "Check out my 7++t skillz, I'm standing on my head and playing Mozart"

The visual content seems to be the entire focus.  [Partly perhaps because the various additions of site logos and conversions to different codecs has probably left any musical content that might have been there long behind]

Whether he's blindfolded or moving his arms / hands quickly, with a metronome as proof of that, is what I get the impression I'm supposed to look at and be impressed by. The presenters seem to be suggesting that my jaw should drop at the visual evidence of some uber-virtuoso superhuman ability.

I've seen it expressed in terms where, perhaps I might walk up to Hamelin after a concert and say "Yeah, you can play, but have you seen that kid on the internet, he plays blindfolded!"

That to me is the biggest problem with the videos, because aiui the hype isn't true. Especially not having been witness to other pianists in and via this forum.

If it was presented as you just did, to check out a good audio recording of a computer game tune, perhaps alongside other good recordings of classical pieces and the measure of him as pianist was either not stated or being made in terms of his ability against his peers, as you have talked about him here, then I think it might be accepted better by those who probably don't see him, with perfect justification, in the same way some of his promoters around the internet do.

OTOH, that focus might not get the level of attention, gigs at computer game shows etc that the other approach has.