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Johnny O’Neal Returns to Toledo
Sojourner’s Truth Staff
Pianist Johnny O’Neal, renowned for his
interpretation’s of the great Art Tatum’s jazz style, will
be returning to Toledo next weekend to appear at Murphy’s
Place on Saturday, March 6.
For O’Neal, who appeared at the Toledo-Lucas
County Public Library’s centennial tribute to Tatum last
October, the trip is a short one since he lives in Detroit.
The pianist’s career really took off after he
portrayed Tatum in the film Ray, starring
Academy-Award winning actor Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles. These
days O’Neal pays homage to Tatum in all of his performances.
“It has been the most defining moment of my
career, playing the part in that movie and in the tributes
over the years,” O’Neal told The Truth last October just
prior to his appearance at the cetennial celebration.
As much as he is called upon to replicate
Tatum’s jazz style, O’Neal does not make the mistake of
thinking he has the master down pat. “I cannot play like
Tatum, but I can conceptualize like him,” said O’Neal of his
approach to copying his idol’s technique. “He whips my butt
every time I try to play along.”
O’Neal’s fascination with Tatum began when he
was a boy and his father instructed him to sit down and
listen to the artist.
“He is my greatest influence – one of the
greatest pianists who ever lived, be it classical or jazz,”
said O’Neal. “Everything he played, he wrote because no one
has been able to match his skills. A lot of pianists
consider him to be the greatest but they won’t listen to him
because he is too good.”
A singer as well as a pianist, O’Neal’s
tributes to Tatum have also included his vocal stylings.
Tatum, O’Neal explained, had a great appreciation for lyrics
and often played in a manner to emphasize the words of a
particular song. One of Tatum’s favorite pieces was Eubie
Blakes’s “I’d Give a Dollar for a Dime,” which O’Neal often
sings in the Tatum style.
O’Neal has been a widely respected pianist
for more than 25 years, catching the attention of jazz icon
Ray Brown in the early 1980’s which led to his debut album,
Coming Out, in 1983. He has played with such jazz
luminaries as Brown, Milt Jackson, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe
Pass, Nancy Wilson, Anita O’Day, Lionel Hampton, Kenny
Burrell and Clark Terry, among many others.
O’Neal will appear at Murphy’s on Saturday,
March 6 for two shows – at 9 and 11 p.m. Premium tickets are
$15 and $20 – general seating is $8 and $10.
Call 419-241-7732 for reservations or email
murphysplace@accesstoledo.com. |
