Fats Waller - The Chronological Fats Waller 1940-1941

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 69:56
Size: 160.1 MB
Styles: Stride, Early jazz, Piano jazz
Year: 1998
Art: Front

[3:19] 1. Original E-Flat Blues
[3:30] 2. Stayin' At Home
[2:47] 3. Hey! Stop Kissin' My Sister
[2:54] 4. Everybody Loves My Baby
[3:14] 5. I'm Gonna Salt Away Some Sugar
[2:57] 6. T'aint Nobody's Bizness If I Do
[3:22] 7. Abercrombie Had A Zombie
[2:39] 8. Blue Eyes
[2:39] 9. Scram!
[2:27] 10. My Melancholy Baby
[2:39] 11. Mamacita
[3:01] 12. Liver Lip Jones
[3:27] 13. Buckin' The Dice
[3:01] 14. Pantin' In The Panther Room
[3:09] 15. Come Down To Earth, My Angel
[2:40] 16. Shortnin' Bread
[3:24] 17. I Repent
[3:15] 18. Do You Have To Go
[2:59] 19. Pan-Pan
[3:16] 20. I Wanna Hear Swing Songs
[3:25] 21. You're Gonna Be Sorry
[2:43] 22. All That Meat And No Potatoes
[2:57] 23. Let's Get Away From It All

Just a few days short of his 37th birthday, Thomas "Fats" Waller recorded five outstanding piano solos. These would turn out to be the last unaccompanied studio piano records of his career, with the exception of those somewhat alcohol-driven V-Disc platters from September of 1943. The 1941 Victor solos are studies in immaculate ease. The artist's choices are fascinating: two pleasantly reflective Hoagy Carmichael reveries, James P. Johnson's throw-down showpiece the "Carolina Shout," a delicate rendering of Duke Ellington's "Ring Dem Bells" and the ultimate interpretation of Waller's own "Honeysuckle Rose." The original 78rpm label bore the distinctive subtitle: "à la Bach-Beethoven-Brahms-Waller." Classics (1068) would be worth having just for the piano solos, even if it didn't convey all the excitement of Waller's small and large band recordings from this very transitional year. "Twenty Four Robbers" is particularly funny, and "Sad Sap Sucker" is an example of the kind of song Waller wrote in collaboration with his manager Ed Kirkeby. They also came up with several saucy numbers that Fats would record with his big band in Los Angeles during the summer of '41. The "Rump Steak Serenade" is an over-the-top paean to red meat, resounding with Waller's refrain: "let me stick my fork in the gravy!" The boisterous "Come and Get It" has more than vaguely sexual overtones, but "Ain't Nothing to It," which posed the question "Gettin' much lately?" was considered too near the bone and remained unissued until many years after Waller's demise. "Chant of the Groove" has a shouted scat intro by the pianist. Interestingly, his first two syllables come out as "be bop," but this is straightforward big band swing. The small group session of October 1, 1941 is most notable for Al Casey's guitar work on "Buck Jumpin'," Gene Sedric and John "Bugs" Hamilton's lively interplay in front of Waller's bubbly Hammond organ on "Clarinet Marmalade" and a lovely understated opus inspired by "The Bells of San Raquel." While "That Gets It, Mr. Joe" is rowdier, and the more-than-somewhat misogynistic "Bessie, Bessie, Bessie" is much saltier, "San Raquel" allows Waller to reveal the quieter side of his personality. For this reason the song never makes it on to any Waller "Best Of" collections. Be grateful that we have the Classics chronological series, for this is the only way to truly get to know someone who was so complex. "Winter Weather" is another heartwarming example of that marvelous creature, the relaxed Fats Waller. "Cash for Your Trash," an entire song devoted to the subject of metal recycling, was his first contribution to the war effort. By December 1943 he had literally worked himself to death by entertaining troops at all hours and selling U.S. bonds on the air. These 1941 sides could be considered the first of what would be his last studio recordings. ~arwulf arwulf

The Chronological Fats Waller 1940-1941

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Fats Waller - At The Piano

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 46:14
Size: 105.8 MB
Styles: Ragtime piano
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[3:57] 1. Ain't Misbehavin'
[3:08] 2. Smashin' Thirds
[2:50] 3. Don't Let It Bother You
[4:31] 4. Honeysuckle Rose
[3:21] 5. A Porter's Love Song To A Chambermaid
[2:59] 6. Rosetta
[3:31] 7. Sweet And Slow
[3:10] 8. Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now
[3:31] 9. Willow Tree
[3:19] 10. The Jitterbug Waltz
[3:04] 11. Your Feet's Too Big
[3:08] 12. Squeeze Me
[3:09] 13. Then I'll Be Tired Of You
[2:30] 14. Mandy

Fats Waller was a jazz pianist and organist of extraordinary facile technique and seemingly limitless invention. He perfected and expanded the style known as stride; he was one of its three undisputed masters, together with James P. Johnson (often named the father of stride piano, with whom Waller studied) and Willie "the Lion" Smith. Stride is descended from ragtime, but incorporates a much more elaborate and decorative approach to the music, and is considerably more demanding to play in terms of technique. Its core is found in a standard left hand pattern, the beat-by-beat alternation between the interval of a tenth struck deep in the bass register of the keyboard and a complex, three- or four-pitch chord struck in the tenor or alto range (the center of the keyboard). Simultaneously, the right hand plays a highly embellished and syncopated version of the melody, often so completely altered as to be lost amidst the complex cascade of notes.

Waller's effortless execution of even the most difficult passages, however, was completely deceptive; it masked a brilliant and prodigious technique that enabled him to negotiate even the most complex gestures with perfection (see, e.g., his May 13, 1941 recording entitled "Honeysuckle Rose, à la Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Waller", matrix number 063890-1). Of his generation, only Art Tatum and Earl Hines could match his keyboard facility. ~Paul Machlin

At The Piano

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Fats Waller & His Rhythm - A Handful Of Keys

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 58:46
Size: 134.6 MB
Label: Buddha
Styles: Piano jazz, Traditional jazz
Year: 1999
Art: Front

[1:05] 1. Ain't Misbehavin'
[3:01] 2. The Joint Is Jumpin'
[3:01] 3. Inside (Aka Inside This Heart Of Mine)
[2:15] 4. I Had To Do It
[2:49] 5. E Flat Blues
[2:28] 6. Hold My Hand
[2:54] 7. Stop Beatin' 'round The Mulberry Bush
[2:31] 8. What's The Matter With You
[1:35] 9. Hallelujah!
[3:26] 10. What's Your Name
[2:38] 11. I Simply Adore You
[2:29] 12. My Best Wishes
[1:57] 13. Handful Of Keys
[3:16] 14. The Sheik Of Araby
[4:01] 15. The Flat Foot Floogie
[1:58] 16. St. Louis Blues
[3:34] 17. Pent Up In A Penthouse
[3:40] 18. Honeysuckle Rose
[2:37] 19. I Got Rhythm
[2:12] 20. Some Of These Days
[2:01] 21. After You've Gone
[3:10] 22. Yacht Club Swing

A HANDFUL OF KEYS features previously unreleased live radio transcriptions originally broadcast in 1938. Recorded live at NBC Studios and The Yacht Club, New York, New York in 1938. Includes liner notes by Will Friedwald. As a label, the U.K. 's Proper does a pretty decent job of assembling a great cross-section of tracks, decent sound, and fairly annotated notes (though labels names seldom if ever appear either in liner notes or in track notations, only catalog number... hmmmm) all for a really great price. Hardcore fans of most artists will either have most or all of the material in their boxes, but those curious enough to look deeper into an artist than a single- or double-disc hits package will want to investigate Proper's catalog. This set of Fats Waller material covers the years 1922 -1943, virtually his entire professional career. Each disc has its own title and runs basically chronologically, from his solo work through his many ensembles. This is a laymen's collection, and is hardly exhaustive of any period, rather merely representative. True fans will want to seek out the RCA sets which are exhaustive in their research, presentation and execution. This is a fine introductory package, but that's it. ~ Thom Jurek

Fats Waller (vocals, piano); Gene Sedric (tenor saxophone, clarinet); Herman Autrey (trumpet); Al Casey (guitar); Cedric Wallace (bass); Slick Jones (drums). Producers: Mike Ragogna, Glenn Korman, Will Friedwald.

Recording information: NBC Studios, New York, NY (07/05/1938-10/18/1938); Yacht Club, New York, NY (07/05/1938-10/18/1938).

A Handful Of Keys

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