Customer Reviews

A Handful of Fats: Original 1929-1942 Recordings

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I took a bit of a risk when I bought this. I heard Fats perform Ain't Misbehavin' on the radio and knew that I had to have it. Familiar with his name but not with his music, I came with an open mind. Boy, was my mind blown wide open. Twenty tracks and nineteen of them bewitching.

There are basically five Fats Wallers. There is the distinguished composer; the brilliant pianist; the great bandleader; the endearing singer, and the incomparable interpreter of the popular song. In each of these five categories, he excels. Just listen to his solo version of Tea for Two, or his own composition, Viper's Drag, and you realise that he ranks alongside jazz music's greatest piano players, from Eubie Blake to Thelonious Monk. I hung on to every note. The man had magic in his fingers.

The songs are divided between his solo work and his own band, Fats Waller & his Rhythm, a two-horn sextet. The sextet is excellent. They could swing with the best of them and the solos are lovely. Check out Herman Autrey's lengthy trumpet solo (beautifully underpinned by Fats' own tinkling of the ivories) that introduces Hoagy Carmichael's, Two Sleepy People. Like all great band leaders, - Morton, Ellington, Mingus - he had a keen ear for talented musicians and by creating the right musical setting, brought out their full potential. What's the betting musicians that played with Fats never again achieved the heights that they achieved with him?

His writing was excellent, too, and he excelled both in the field of popular song, such as I'm Crazy About My Baby, and in jazz composition, such as Handful of Keys.

His voice and phrasing was attractive and perfectly suited to humorous songs, and Fats was a great humorist, the Ian Dury of his day. He could also add real poignancy to bitter sweet love songs. I doubt if Hoagy Carmichael's Two Sleepy People has ever been sung with quite such easy-going sincerity.

So there you have it: five good reasons for purchasing this CD. The one track I didn't like? - The Jitterbug Waltz. Fats' Hammond organ playing failed to float my boat, I'm afraid.

A word on the packaging. Excellent. The sleeve notes by Scott Yanow are concise but informative. [The curse of jazz fans, along with Ornette Coleman, is windy sleeve notes that say nothing in particular.] The informative listing and track information is neatly laid out and easy on the eye. Also, the font is large enough so you don't need binoculars to read the words. Even the cover is tastefully done. Naxos deserve full credit for this CD.

Bought this for my brother to replace an old vinyl record he had years ago...it was perfect and had all the same songs on it. He loves it!!

This 20-track CD, A Handful of Fats: Original 1929-1942 Recordings, has been released under both the Pro Arte and Naxos labels. This is one of the very best single disk collections of Fats Waller's music.

The sound on the 2004 CD is excellent (I cannot comment on the original 1992 release). Noise reduction is as much an art as a science, and this CD is one of the best sounding Waller anthologies. Granted, I do boost the treble to add a bit of presence, but the CD is very nearly noise free and musical detail is astoundingly good for the age of the source material.

Eight of the tracks are piano solos--all of which are stunning displays of virtuosity. Waller was one of jazz's greatest pianists and swung as hard as any pianist of his or any other day. He played with a forceful stride pattern in the left hand and elaborate and syncopated melodic lines in the right hand. His right hand was dexterous and innovative, and his runs were quick and smooth beyond comparison.

Waller was an exuberant entertainer and a composer of 300+ tunes. Eleven of the 20 included tracks are Waller compositions. A decided plus is the inclusion of Jitterbug Waltz, a fine Waller tune (that has been covered by everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Chet Atkins to Benny Goodman) with Fats playing an early Hammond organ in a big band setting.

Fats Waller, 1904-43, recoded 600+ sides in his brief life, so any omnibus must be selective. Honeysuckle Rose and Ain't Misbehavin' are presented in less frequently heard piano solo versions--great music to be certain, but some beginners might prefer the vocal versions. This appealing CD could have been made even stronger by the addition of a few more of his vocal hits.

This album emphasizes Waller's piano more than many anthologies, and has gorgeous sound. Five starts are not enough.

If you want a larger collection of Waller's music, RCA/Bluebird has issued a winning 3 CD collection with extensive documentation and photos: If You Got to Ask, You Ain't Got It! For a single CD with a more vocal selections and more tracks total, I recommend a European CD with very good sound from Collector's Choice: The Very Best of Fats Waller.

The Naxos label seems to be in the process of reissuing lots, perhaps all, of Fats Waller's commercial recordings. This one is a collection of favorites recorded between 1929 ('A Handful of Keys') and 1942 ('The Jitterbug Waltz') which are presented more or less in the order in which they were recorded. Included are such favorites as 'Ain't Misbehavin',' 'Honeysuckle Rose,' 'Your Feet's Too Big,' and 'Georgia on My Mind.' There is a version of 'Tea for Two' that I'd never heard before and which contains some of the most inventive harmonies and an infectiously unpredictable variation of tempi that I kept playing again and again in order to get a grasp on. Wonderful! 'This Joint is Jumpin',' recorded in 1937, is interrupted by a 'raid' by the police blowing their whistles and people 'cutting a rug' to get out of the place. Hilariously enacted by Waller and his band. If ever there was a performer who conveyed high good spirits any better than Waller, I don't know who it was. It was a huge loss when he died if pneumonia in the train station in Kansas City in late 1943.

This collection, in wonderful sound for the period, will assuredly make you tap your feet and perhaps even get up and dance a few steps. It will definitely put you in a good mood.

Scott Morrison