The Definitive Fats Waller

Larry Kart · November 24, 2008

Picked these up these well-filled gems the other day -- radio transcriptions from 1935 and 1939 (solo and by a fine and somewhat different edition of his band -- John Smith in for Al Casey on guitar, and tasty trumpeter Bugs Hamilton taking over from Herman Autrey) plus a radio broadcast with George Jessel, a 1936 remote broadcast, and two 1939 private recordings made in London). Some of the most delightful Waller I know -- and I've heard a lot. Most of it is in fine sound (Jerry Valburn/Jack Towers remastering), and Dan Morgenstern's detailed notes are a joy. A few multiple versions reveal that Fats changed things up a good deal every time, even on pieces such as "Honeysuckle Rose," which he played thousands of times -- and what a great vocal improviser, too. And his sense of time! What might it have been like if he and Lester Young had recorded together. I know -- there's Basie, whose chief model was Fats, but the driving, rock-solid sense of swing that Waller builds up on many of these tracks would have been perfect for Pres, and vice versa.

Released in 1990 and 1991, these Stash CDs are OOP but available used from sellers at Amazon at reasonable prices:

http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Fats-Wall...6936&sr=1-3