Fats Waller and His Rhythm: The Middle Years, Part 1...

Bluebird RCA (USA) ( October 27, 1992 ), Genre: Jazz Instrument

Personnel: Fats Waller (vocals, piano, celesta, organ, vibraphone); Fats Waller (spoken vocals); James "Hal" Smith , James Smith (guitar); Benny Morton's All Stars, Benny Morton (trombone); Harry Dial's Blusicians, Harry Dial (vibraphone, drums); Elizabeth Handy (vocals); Albert Casey (guitar); Rudy Powell (clarinet, alto saxophone); Gene Sedric (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Emmett Matthews (soprano saxophone); Bob Carroll (tenor saxophone); Herman Autrey, Bill Coleman (trumpet); Hank Duncan (piano); Arnold Boling, Slick Jones, Yank Porter (drums); Charles Turner.Audio Remasterer: Ted Kendall.Recording information: Camden, NJ (11/16/1934-08/01/1936); New York, NY (11/16/1934-08/01/1936).Author: Ted Kendall.Arrangers: Don Donaldson; Alex Hill .The third volume in JSP's massive library of Fats Waller's Complete Recorded Works brings together all of the commercial studio recordings he made between November 16, 1934, and August 1, 1936. The first four tracks ("African Ripples, " "Clothes Line Ballet, " "Alligator Cr

West End Records

Golden Greats

2007 50 track collection that covers his finest work from 1929 through to 1943, the year of his death. We begin with an early version of the standard 'Handful Of Keys' and then concentrate on the recordings on which Waller's reputation largely rests, namely those made predominantly in the mid '30s under the name of Fats Waller and His Rhythm. Essence.

Performer

2007 50 track collection that covers his finest work from 1929 through to 1943, the year of his death. We begin with an early version of the standard 'Handful Of Keys' and then concentrate on the recordings on which Waller's reputation largely rests, namely those made predominantly in the mid '30s under the name of Fats Waller and His Rhythm. Essence.

Like Hallmark's 1996 Fats Waller "best-of" collection, this label's Ain't Misbehavin' is a jumbled mass of Waller material, although tune for tune the selections are slightly stronger than on the earlier release. These recordings, made between 1929 and 1940, include solo essays on piano and pipe organ, two gutsy little jams from 1929 featuring the first band to make records as Fats Waller & His Buddies, and a rowdy rendition of Slim Gaillard's "Flat Foot Floogie" recorded in London by Fats Waller & His Continental Rhythm in 1938. Tossing Waller's Buddies' recording of "Harlem Fuss" into the middle of a batch of songs whipped off by his Rhythm band during the 1930s rather muddies the palette and smears the distinction between the Prohibition-era intensity of the hastily assembled Buddies and the more routine proceedings of Waller's Rhythm, a group that settled into a pattern of Bluebird record production that would only cease with the union-imposed recording ban of 1942. This is a good album to have around unl

Liner Note Author: Scott Yanow.Thomas "Fats" Waller was the complete entertainer during the Depression years, conveying a constant joyous presence as a singer, pianist, and organist, and as a superb songwriter -- his "Ain't Misbehavin', " for instance, is a timeless classic. Arguably his best work was done for Victor in 1934 and 1935, but Waller was always a steady performer, and the radio transcriptions on this two-disc set -- recorded between 1931 and 1943 -- are as delightful as anything else he ever recorded, and maybe even more so, thanks to his warm song introductions and occasional spoken asides; he introduces "Ain't Misbehavin'" here by saying "Ladies and gentlemen, this is just to let you know that I paid my alimony, and I ain't misbehavin'." Everything presented here is of a piece, full of a calm and sprightly joy, and tracks like his beautifully hushed interpretation of "Tea for Two" are nothing less than stunning. Again, Waller's studio work for Victor is the place to start with this marvelous musi

Once the king of the blues-derived "stride" school of jazz piano, Fats Waller earned his reputation as the most perfect of all jazz pianists with impeccable time keeping, instrumental mastery, the intensity of swing, and melodic gift. He arrived on the scene just as jazz was flowering nationwide, and he reaped a harvest of fame and fortune through his piano rolls, recordings, and much-lauded European tours. His death . . . in 1943, marked the end of the swing era. This informal narrative of Waller's life and music—a moving memoir of a musical genius and an outstanding human being—was written by Fats' personal manager. Reviewing Fats' brief but stellar career, Kirkeby reveals a life that was filled with paradoxes, and a man who moved with ease from a middle-class churchgoing home to New York’s speakeasy subculture. Kirkeby details Waller's collaboration with lyricist Andy Razaf; his friendships with James P. Johnson, Willie "the Lion" Smith, and Duke Ellington; and his successful forays into films and Broadway musicals, including Hot Chocolates and Stormy Weather (with Lena Horne). He also weaves in his own personal memoir and includes a selected discography listing the most representative Waller recordings.