chris Posted April 28, 2005 Report Posted April 28, 2005 I'm reading a biography of Fats Waller (by Maurice Waller and Anthony Calabrese) and am wondering what the essential Waller recordings might be. I have only one CD with Waller, some no-name compilation that I can't even find at the moment... Quote
Daniel Andresen Posted April 28, 2005 Report Posted April 28, 2005 The problem with waller recordings is that there almost aren't any "one session cd's" of the man. Most of what came out, is either a compilation or some sort of a "chronological" cd. If I were you I would start with "The Last Years (1940-1943)" by Bluebird - This is in my opinion a wonderful set and since it contains his latest work, the sound is as good as it gets... Quote
jazzbo Posted April 28, 2005 Report Posted April 28, 2005 The new RCA Centennial collection cd/dvd may be a good starting point. . . . You'll end up duplicating the material if you start collecting Fats, but the sound is excellent, the choice of tunes great, and the dvd is highly enlightening! Quote
Brownian Motion Posted April 28, 2005 Report Posted April 28, 2005 The problem with waller recordings is that there almost aren't any "one session cd's" of the man. Most of what came out, is either a compilation or some sort of a "chronological" cd. If I were you I would start with "The Last Years (1940-1943)" by Bluebird - This is in my opinion a wonderful set and since it contains his latest work, the sound is as good as it gets... Another way to go is to get the early sessions of Fats and his little band, which began recording for RCA in 1934. The earlier sessions feature Bill Coleman on trumpet, instead of the less interesting Herman Autry. Of course the sound is not as good as that on the later sessions. Quote
l p Posted April 28, 2005 Report Posted April 28, 2005 "More Radio Rarities" (jasmine) http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?...&cart=244123874 two excellent shows from the Panther Room, Hotel Sherman, Chicago, December 1940; and a short broadcast from NBC Studios, July 5, 1938. Quote
John L Posted April 28, 2005 Report Posted April 28, 2005 In addition to the classic sides with His Rhythm discussed above, you might want to look for a separate disc of his incredible solo piano recordings. There once was a 2-disc set on French Jazz Tribune of all his RCA solo piano sides. I don't know what is available now. I am spending a lot of time abroad these days and I just loaded up all 14 volumes of of the complete Fats Waller and His Rhythm on my external hard drive. I never get tired of hearing Fats. The man was a living miracle. Aw, no baby, no! Don't make a fat man blue! Come on over here. Yes, yes... Quote
neveronfriday Posted April 28, 2005 Report Posted April 28, 2005 Hope this link works: RCA Waller Indispensable/Jazz Times Series In Europe (amazon.de) and the US (amazon.com) those are still readily available. They sometimes come with different titles (Jazz Times/Indispensable), but they are all double-CDs from essentially the same series (which was canned, sadly enough) which were released in the 90s. I have a whole ton (40 or 50?) from this series (Basie, Dorsey, Ellington Una Mae, Newman, Waller, and, and, and) and am very happy with them. Second-hand they are great value for my hard-earned money, especially since I was able to pick many of these up, over the years, for around $8 (all things come to those who wait). If the link doesn't work, enter "Indispensable" into the search field and many hits from this series will pop up. Quote
chris Posted April 30, 2005 Author Report Posted April 30, 2005 How about the Proper Box-- is Proper legit? Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted April 30, 2005 Report Posted April 30, 2005 How about the Proper Box-- is Proper legit? Not in the US. Quote
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