Tatum, Carter, Bellson

Art Tatum’s lightning-fast piano work meets Ben Webster’s breathy tenor and Louie Bellson’s crisp swing drumming on this Clef Records session, a rare small-group meeting of three jazz virtuosos. Recorded when bebop and swing were still negotiating their coexistence, the trio captures the tension between Tatum’s harmonic density and the looser phrasing of his collaborators. Essential listening for anyone tracking how piano-led jazz evolved in the late 1940s.