Tatum is regarded as one of the all-time great jazz pianists. His performances were praised for his technical prowess and inventiveness, setting a new bar for jazz piano proficiency. The musical genius was born in Toledo, Ohio. Tatum remembered entire piano rolls and absorbed music from the radio and Victrola despite being legally blind and mostly self-taught. He emerged as a fully developed musician in the 1930s, and his improvisational talent rapidly became legendary. He also began playing the piano at an early age, learning by ear and using his great recall and sense of pitch to help him. He developed a quick, accurate playing technique. He was also particularly sensitive to the intonation of the piano as a child, and he insisted on adjusting it regularly.

When people first heard Tatum on a record, they commonly mistook him for two piano players. Because accompanists struggled to keep up with his brilliant, volcanic musical ideas, he typically performed alone. He tried to recreate what he imagined in his head. In New York, he became a legend. Several pianists tried to imitate his talent, and others doubted their own abilities after hearing him. It wasn't uncommon to see classical pianist Vladimir Horowitz or composer George Gershwin sitting among the crowd. In 1927, Tatum began performing as ‘Arthur Tatum, Toledo's Blind Pianist' on Toledo radio station WSPD during interludes in Ellen Kay's shopping conversation program and soon had his own show. His radio show was rebroadcast countrywide between 1928 to 1929. He was modest, respectful, and a gentleman.