Customer Reviews

Thomas "Fats" Waller : The Great Solos, 1929-1937

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you are at all familiar with Fats Waller, you undoubtably have been in awe of his work. His keyboard mastery, his compositions, his "tickling tricks"...all combined with his irrepressable humor made him the genius of his time. And deservably so.Noone could touch his ability on the keys. This book, beautifuuly put together, gives you the music of Fats. My hat is off to Posnak. I have no idea how he was able to transcribe some of this material, as some of it is quite complex in harmonies and rhythms. Posnak himself must be a thrill to hear. The world of stride piano fanciers and admirers owes him a world of thanks for this labor of love. Here you will find one of Fats' signature pieces- "Handful of Keys". Folks, this is not for the faint of heart, as the chords are full and rich, and the "tricks" are numerous. I only wish that he had also included James Johnson"s "Carolina Shout", as Fats also had a winner with his interpretaion of that one, written by his teacher. "Ain't Misbehavin'" is great, and sounds just like the recording that Posnak transcribed it from. If you know this piece and are able to play it already, do yourself a favor and augment your rendition with some if not all of this version. I have already gleaned much from it, and indeed, play this version in it's written form, as you would have a hard time improving upon it without muddying it. "The Viper's Drag" and "Keeping Out of Mischief Now" are, once again, so faithfully brought back to life that it is eerie. It is as if Fats himself is sitting there just GIVING this material to you, as Posnak delivers the true sounds and life of the pieces. If you have guessed that I think the world of this book, you got it! If you love stride piano, or for that matter, just damn good piano, and have the patience to sit and work on the material, you will have treasures in your hands. But I will warn you just a bit- the material isn't for the beginner or even novice; this IS going to take some experience, reading ability and comprehension. Most of us will have to spend some time working out the fingerings and rhythms. as a learning aid, try purchasing several good Fats Waller tapes or CDs that have these pieces on them.Knowing how they are supposed to sound can be of benefit. Just try not to compare your ability with Fats.. we are all not worthy!!! So turn on your piano lamp, get a cold glass of tea (or your favorite adult beverage....Fats would be proud), and work at it. It is surely worth it.

This is truly a must-have for any stride pianist. The transcriptions are meticulously detailed. If you want to sound like Fats himself, buy this book. The downfall, though, is that it is incredibly difficult. If you can play these transcriptions like Fats did, you're a freak!

Simply put - this book is a monumental endeavor and no less of a tribute to "Fats". After long hours on end trying to pick out these fabulous solos myself with my all-too-imperfect musical ear, this work is a dream come true. If only more musicians of this calibre would pick up the torch as well and transcribe other solos for "Fats" (unfortunately, his marvelous rendition of "Tea for Two" is not included here), as well as other pianists (Art Tatum, for one)! The accuracy in transcription here is astonishing. Two copies are recommended, because you will be wearing the first copy out in no time!

As helpful as it is for aspiring pianists to have access to jazz material I must saddly report that this product is one that will lead them astray. As a professional transcriber with over 30 years experience and work on major motion pictures, I am saddened by the results of Mr Posnak.
The transcriptions are simply poor. They are filled with mistakes and it is surprising that no editors were called in to check the accuracy of the work. On African Ripples for example beginning at the G major theme, there is not a single correct left hand chord other than the initial one. Perhaps a lack of familiarity with the style could be the root cause.
I would strongly suggest to aspiring students to purchase a high quality transfer of waller's solo piano performances and their own means of slowing the tempo down (Amazing Slow-downer is quite a wonderful product) and do the transcriptions themselves. While I applaud Mr Posnak's efforts to add to the printed repertoire I must advise pianists to avoid these transcriptions

Mr Posnak has given the piano community a valuable source of information on how to play stride piano. For those who can't pick up music by ear, here are 15 solos from the great Fats Waller in note-by-note transcription. Order the book and start playing!

I have this book, and I have been playing the piano for 45 years. I've always wanted accurate transcriptions of Waller's ingeneous playing, as his published sheet music has been simplified. The good news is that Posnak has obliged us, and he has done a good job.

Now for the bad news. Like I said in the title, there is always a catch. Very few people, especially in an age dominated by downloaded and recorded music, have the pianistic skills that these black men from 1920's Harlem had. Most people would have a very hard time taking Posnak's transcriptions and making them sound anything like Waller's recordings.

Before anyone starts to entertain pipe-dreams of sounding like Waller, make sure you have been gifted by God with hands big enough to play 10th interval chords, as the essence of the "Harlem style" was built around 10th chords. That's two notes beyond the octave. (Waller had hands big enough to play 13th intervals!) This alone would disqualify a great many people, especially women. Few women have hands big enough to play 10th chords. There might as well be a notice on the cover saying "No Girls Allowed"! This is a serious boys club. One can get around this limitation by "flipping back" the chord to a shorter interval, but then you won't sound exactly like Waller if you do that.

Assuming you have the requisite physical qualifications and technical ability, the last hurdle is having a good instrument to play on. An electronic keyboard or synthesizer is not going to produce the percussive and acoustic resonance that thie special kind of piano playing requires. This is especially true for bringing out the rich left hand action. What you will realy need is an excellent acoustic piano with a large soundboard, like an old high, restored upright, or a high quality grand piano. Those of you who have real money, should consider getting a restored 1920's vintage Steinway grand. Waller's music demands a good player, and a good instrument.

I feel the market for this book is necessarily small. That being said, I say good luck and God bless!

Posnak has faithfully transcribed Fats exactly as originally played by going through a painstaking listening and transcribing process. You too can sound like Fats if you can manage to play these tunes up to tempo. The harmonies are rich, the stretches in the left hand are wide, and the tempos are not for the faint of heart. But you can always play them a little slower and still sound great. This book is like having an old player piano roll of a great artist. If you want to learn stride style, this is the book to have.

Those guys who gave this one star don't know much about Fats, that or they are being too picky with small errors. In that case, yes there may be a few small errors and this book might not be 100% accurate note for note what Fats played on these songs, but the transcriptions are still very professional and reflect the style and are pretty close to what Fats actually played. Songs like Ain't Misbehavin', Alligator Crawl, and Handful of Keys, are essential to any Waller and stride pianist. Waller's style is quite tricky to master and of course, some of the inversions between notes is just too wide to reach for normal sized hands like myself, so of course, improvising is needed for these. Of course, once you do get Fats' rhythm and style down, it won't be hard to impress your friends and audiences when you are at a piano, because everything Fats played was professional and had lots of harmony, with a very upbeat bass line. In the end, for only $10 or so dollars this book is worth it, the transcriptions are very good and mimic Waller's songs accurately. Fats music is timeless for any pianist and fun to play once you can get it down.

I'm an advanced player, background in classical piano. Past couple of years have been loving stride piano.
This book is one of my favorites. Mind you, the selections require hard work. If you are an intermediate-level
pianist, this is too difficult. I started with Viper Drag around Halloween. It's a great one and all of
Fats' works allow for lots of interpretation, esp.Viper. I have a fuzzy memory of an old video featuring a viper
slinking around and then in middle section he meets a lady-friend-viper & they strut together. Programatic piece, it is. Yes, there are some editorial mishaps around which one can "cover". Break the left hand 10th or & do what you have to do to play and enjoy these. Fats wouldn't mind. I've checked various
recordings of Fats playing some of these pieces and he never played them the same twice. The player just has to pick a tempo s/he can manage. This book will be very much enjoyed & played by a stride player. Gaar-on-tee!

The book is complex but worth the labor. You'll sure be figuring out the fingering if you have small hands that can't reach a tenth like myself. This book is stride jazz piano at heart. Posnak did us a great deed and favor bringing back Fats through written sheet music to us. I highly recommend this book if you want to learn Harlem Stride Hot Piano. It is going to take a great learning curb to learn these TIMELESS SOLOS!