Fats Waller JSP Vol. 6

[Larry Kart]

Bought this today, and so far I'm stunned:

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Recorded-Works-Waller-2009-03-24/dp/B01K8O88R4/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1548549836&sr=1-1&keywords=fats+waller+volume+6

The last of Waller, on 5 CDs. Much of this material is unfamiliar to me, and what I'm hearing ls superb. This comment from Amazon is on the money:

'JSP is to be commended for its investment of monetary and technical resources into issuing this series. All of Fats' recorded work was issued by RCA Bluebird, but as is their habit, they relied heavily on Sonic Solutions "No-Noise" to "clean up" the sonic detritus of years of neglect from Victor of the original metal masters. The net effect was to my ears an artificial sonic representation of the original sound. The top end tends to be cramped and tinny. What [Ted] Kendall has done is to set proper pitch and use minimal filtering to achieve a more truthful record of what Fats laid down in the studio.'

I've never heard Fat's voice and piano-playing with such presence and clarity. What a joy! And by no means is there any slacking off in Fats' Rhythm. Gene Sedric in particular is in fine form, and based on what I've heard so far, I prefer trumpeter John Hamilton to the Waller veteran he replaced, Herman Autrey. 

 

 

[paul secor]

I don't have Vol. 6, but I have several earlier volumes and I've been happy with what I've heard.

[AllenLowe]

  On 1/27/2019 at 12:52 AM, Larry Kart said:

Bought this today, and so far I'm stunned:

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Recorded-Works-Waller-2009-03-24/dp/B01K8O88R4/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1548549836&sr=1-1&keywords=fats+waller+volume+6

The last of Waller, on 5 CDs. Much of this material is unfamiliar to me, and what I'm hearing ls superb. This comment from Amazon is on the money:

'JSP is to be commended for its investment of monetary and technical resources into issuing this series. All of Fats' recorded work was issued by RCA Bluebird, but as is their habit, they relied heavily on Sonic Solutions "No-Noise" to "clean up" the sonic detritus of years of neglect from Victor of the original metal masters. The net effect was to my ears an artificial sonic representation of the original sound. The top end tends to be cramped and tinny. What [Ted] Kendall has done is to set proper pitch and use minimal filtering to achieve a more truthful record of what Fats laid down in the studio.'

I've never heard Fat's voice and piano-playing with such presence and clarity. What a joy! And by no means is there any slacking off in Fats' Rhythm. Gene Sedric in particular is in fine form, and based on what I've heard so far, I prefer trumpeter John Hamilton to the Waller veteran he replaced, Herman Autrey. 

 

 

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Larry - just for the record - the problem wasn't "no noise" which, when the Wallers were done, was very non-invasive. And a lot of the BMG reissues of the Waller Victors are fine. Where they tended to mess up was the equalization - which is actually fixable even on a consumer level with basic units (though of course you should not have to do it) - I know I mention this frequently, but there's a lot of misunderstanding of this aspect of restoration. And John R.T. was a genius at it. He also had access to a lot of masters and test pressings which, fortunately for us, were "liberated" by various people from various Victor vaults, from what I have been able to gather. 

[Larry Kart]

Thanks for the correction, Allen. In any case, what I've heard of this set so far is a revelation to me.

[JSngry]

Are all the other volumes of this series of equal audio quality? Same guy did them all, correct, not Davies but somebody who paid attention, right?

[mjzee]

  On 1/27/2019 at 3:39 AM, JSngry said:

Are all the other volumes of this series of equal audio quality? Same guy did them all, correct, not Davies but somebody who paid attention, right?

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Coincidentally, I've been working my way through the JSPs - I'm listening now to disc 3 of box 4.  I wouldn't say every disc is of equal audio quality.  Some are louder than others (though I haven't been taking notes to tell you which is which).  Some tracks share a dull quality with Sony reissues.  I can't speak to the Bluebird 2-fers to say if those were any better.  Still, they're all listenable (except maybe for box 1 disc 1 - very early and raw), and, as Allen pointed out, they are complete.

[paul secor]

  On 1/27/2019 at 3:39 AM, JSngry said:

Are all the other volumes of this series of equal audio quality? Same guy did them all, correct, not Davies but somebody who paid attention, right?

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Ted Kendall.

[JSngry]

The man who was forever searching for the one-armed microphone, correct?

[Ted O'Reilly]

  On 1/27/2019 at 4:14 PM, JSngry said:

The man who was forever searching for the one-armed microphone, correct?

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Guess I missed that.  Could you explain?  

I believe Ted Kendall was the man John R.T. Davies suggested to John Norris (Sackville Records founder) when Davies himself was unable to do a project.  Perhaps Kendall was his 'mentor' ?

[JSngry]

It's a Dr. Richard Kimble joke.

[Larry Kart]

  On 1/27/2019 at 5:45 PM, Ted O'Reilly said:

Guess I missed that.  Could you explain?  

I believe Ted Kendall was the man John R.T. Davies suggested to John Norris (Sackville Records founder) when Davies himself was unable to do a project.  Perhaps Kendall was his 'mentor' ?

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I believe Davies was Kendall's mentor.

[jlhoots]

Bought it - thanks!!

[Larry Kart]

  On 1/28/2019 at 12:39 AM, jlhoots said:

Bought it - thanks!!

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Hope you like it; If you like Waller you almost certainly will. It covers 1940-43, and most  (maybe all) of the good deal of Waller I had came from before 1940. For some reason the apparent (I think it's actual) increased fidelity of these transfers especially alters my sense of Fat's vocals; they seem  a good deal more shaded and subtle than I recall.

[Ted O'Reilly]

  On 1/27/2019 at 6:31 PM, Larry Kart said:

I believe Davies was Kendall's mentor.

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Of course!  That's what I meant...Kendall was the much younger man.  Thanks for the correction.

[Shrdlu]

This is great to see, because the 90s RCA box sets are long gone, now.

I have all of those, and I am happy with the sound on them. My only complaint is very minor: in the (chronologically) last set, alternate takes of a few items are said to be there, but they are just the originally issued tracks. A friend in France came up with some alternates, which should have been included in the set.

It was a delight to get these sets, because when I was about 4, I used to play my Dad's Waller 78s, and, in the early 60s, we got some of the "R.C.A. Vintage" vinyl albums.

They missed an alternate take of "Black Raspberry Jam", which I have on one of the "Vintage" LPs. Presumably, they mislaid the metal part when the LP was prepared, so it was not where it should have been when the CDs were made.

[blake]

FWIW, I've recently seen Vol. 6 at a couple of different Half Price Books stores in my area. I believe it was priced at $14.99 or thereabouts. I picked up a copy over the holidays and was really pleased with the sound on this versus my RCAs.

[JSngry]

hmmmm...that's often a sign that they picked up a bulk lot somehow. I'm going to have to go out and see about that!

Thanks for the heads up!

[mjzee]

  On 1/27/2019 at 12:52 AM, Larry Kart said:

Bought this today, and so far I'm stunned:

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Recorded-Works-Waller-2009-03-24/dp/B01K8O88R4/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1548549836&sr=1-1&keywords=fats+waller+volume+6

The last of Waller, on 5 CDs. Much of this material is unfamiliar to me, and what I'm hearing ls superb. This comment from Amazon is on the money:

'JSP is to be commended for its investment of monetary and technical resources into issuing this series. All of Fats' recorded work was issued by RCA Bluebird, but as is their habit, they relied heavily on Sonic Solutions "No-Noise" to "clean up" the sonic detritus of years of neglect from Victor of the original metal masters. The net effect was to my ears an artificial sonic representation of the original sound. The top end tends to be cramped and tinny. What [Ted] Kendall has done is to set proper pitch and use minimal filtering to achieve a more truthful record of what Fats laid down in the studio.'

I've never heard Fat's voice and piano-playing with such presence and clarity. What a joy! And by no means is there any slacking off in Fats' Rhythm. Gene Sedric in particular is in fine form, and based on what I've heard so far, I prefer trumpeter John Hamilton to the Waller veteran he replaced, Herman Autrey. 

 

 

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Larry, I wonder if you've heard volume 5.  I've started listening to disc 2, and it continues to confirm my earlier impressions: sound levels are low and transfers sound dull.  Listening now to "Love, I'd Give My Life For You," and it sounds sad compared to the two versions currently on YouTube.  Would love to hear some of these transfers done by Off The Record, or even straight from 78 to CD.

 

[Larry Kart]

  On 2/6/2019 at 11:56 PM, mjzee said:

Larry, I wonder if you've heard volume 5.  I've started listening to disc 2, and it continues to confirm my earlier impressions: sound levels are low and transfers sound dull.  Listening now to "Love, I'd Give My Life For You," and it sounds sad compared to the two versions currently on YouTube.  Would love to hear some of these transfers done by Off The Record, or even straight from 78 to CD.

 

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Sorry -- all I've heard is Vol. 6.

[gmonahan]

I think all the Waller JSP sets are well worth having, but then, I'm a bit of a Fats fanatic!

 

 

gregmo

[Teasing the Korean]

I have lots of Fats on LP, but nothing on CD.  It seems like this JSP Ted Kendall series is a good way to go in terms of organization and sound.  Are there other options as good or better?

[mikeweil]

Main problem is, if you buy one of the boxes, you want to have them all. Six boxes is a lot of music, but all of it is fun to listen to. I succumbed and got me all of them over the years.

[jazzbo]

  On 8/2/2024 at 10:29 PM, Teasing the Korean said:

I have lots of Fats on LP, but nothing on CD.  It seems like this JSP Ted Kendall series is a good way to go in terms of organization and sound.  Are there other options as good or better?

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Not easy to find, but the King Jazz series, I think there are 14 volumes, is excellent--I have all these as well as the JSP and I actually like to listen to the King Jazz a bit more--I've had them much longer and they really are satisfying listens.

Also. . . don't miss the earlier RCA two cd set of piano solos.

[romualdo]

I actually bought the whole JSP Waller series from a board member a few years back

Kendall does a good job IMHO - he also did a Coleman Hawkins JSP set- covers quite a lot of the euro period material that the Mosaic box omitted

[Teasing the Korean]

Thanks @mikeweil @jazzbo @romualdo .

My Dad saw Fats Waller live sometime around the mid- to late-1930s.  He said there were three full bottles of Orange Crush soda sitting on the piano.  Between tunes, Fats drained one of the bottles in one breath, set it down, drank the second in one breath, set it down, and did the same with the third.  He then went on to sing the next song, completely unaffected.