Fats Waller and His Rhythm: The Middle Years, Part 1 (1936-1938)

Read About This Recording

Thomas Fats Waller was one of the most remarkable jazz talents of all time. His accomplishments were in five overlapping areas. Inspired by James P. Johnson, Waller was one of the most exciting stride pianists. He pounded out the beat with his left hand (alternating between bass notes and chords) and played complicated but melodic passages with his right. Waller was jazz's first organist, swinging on a pipe organ in recordings from as early as the mid-1920s. He was a top-notch songwriter and composer, with Honeysuckle Rose and Ain't Misbehavin' being only the two most famous songs among his scores of gems. Waller was a superior jazz vocalist who could sing with sensitivity when he wasn't clowning around. And Fats was a major comic personality, one who gave the impression of enjoying life as a nonstop party filled with wisecracks, liquor, women and hot jazz. Amazingly enough, the impression he created was true, for the party did not stop until his death at age 39 in 1943.

Starting in 1934 and continuing for eight years, Waller recorded a steady series of numbers with his Rhythm, a two-horn four-rhythm sextet. Because Fats often satirized lyrics, he had the ability to turn the weakest and most ridiculous tunes into worthwhile jazz even as he made fun of them. He also played some standards and contributed his own tunes.

All of Waller's 1934-42 recordings are available on an extensive series of Bluebird CDs. The Middle Years, Part I is a three-CD set that has his output from December 24, 1936 up to April 12, 1938. The great majority of the numbers are by Fats' Rhythm, featuring trumpeter Herman Autrey, Gene Sedric on clarinet and tenor and guitarist Al Casey. There is also a session with a group of West Coast players and an eight-song date with Waller's part-time big band.

Among the many highlights are I'm Sorry I Made You Cry, Honeysuckle Rose, Blue, Turning Grey Over You, Beat It Out, The Joint Is Jumpin' and The Sheik Of Araby, but even the most obscure and least likely tunes (such as Why Do Hawaiians Sing Aloha) are turned into musical magic and fun by the remarkable Fats Waller.

This set and the others in the series are full of joy.

-Scott Yanow

Extended Article

Fats Waller had one of the strongest left hands in jazz, an invaluable trait for anyone attempting stride piano, the style brought to popularity by James P. Johnson and perfected by Fats. And yet he was as at home with Brahms and Liszt as he was with Joplin and Johnson. That he composed most of the songs in this set reveals songwriting came as easy to Fats as breathing...or eating or drinking for that matter. Waller was the master of joy and laughter in jazz with the humor coming not only from his words but also from his pianistic virtuosity.

Contents

Remastered!

Havin' A Ball; I'm Sorry I Made You Cry; Who's Afraid of Love?; Please Keep Me in Your Dreams; One in a Million; Nero; You're Laughing at Me; I Can't Break The Habit of You; Did Anyone Ever Tell You?; When Love is Young; The Meanest Thing You Ever Did Was Kiss Me; Cryin' Mood; Where is the Sun?; Old Plantation; To a Sweet Pretty Thing; You've Been Reading My Mail; Spring Cleaning; You Showed Me the Way; You Showed Me the Way*