Fats Waller - All The Hits And More 1922-43 swing era, an artist with an unmistakably distinctive style and a way with a song whose work transcended the different strands of jazz that emerged during the 20 years or so when he established his reputation and enjoyed all his success as a recording artist. He was renowned as an influential innovator of the Harlem style of stride piano, but also became famous playing the organ and celeste on his sessions. Recording both solo and in small groups, and equally well-known and loved for his instrumental and vocal recordings, he had over 60 hits between 1929 and 1943, when he died suddenly from pneumonia at the tragically early age of 39. This great-value 75-track 3-CD collection contains all those hits plus selected other recordings which are among his most highly-regarded and popular work. It naturally features the recordings for which he is best-known, including his No. 1s with "Truckin'", "A Little Bit Independent", "All My Life", "It's A Sin To Tell A Lie", "Smarty" and "Two Sleepy People and classics like "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter". It's a substantial and enjoyable showcase for one of the great personalities of jazz.

In essence, the sound of the piano comes in two parts: it's attack and it's decay. The striking of a hammer is followed by the resonance of a string or strings. (Much the same might be said about the vibraphone, as it happens.) This dual quality of sound comes to mind when listening to Moments by New York-based composer Michael Vincent Waller. Performed by pianist R. Andrew Lee and vibraphonist William Winant, Moments - his third album, following Trajectories (Recital, 2017) and The South Shore (XI, 2015) - draws on Western classical music tradition in it's most archetypal forms through it's use of modal melodies, triadic harmonies and metered rhythms. Yet the emotional heart of the music is not in attack, but resonance. The afterlife of sounds. Those elements that can't be grasped and placed into easy historical categories. Behind his surface attacks Waller finds hazy, edgeless zones that draw us downwards, into introspection - an "inward gaze." Waller's music is often compared to that of Erik Satie, and there is certainly something Satie-like in it's concision, it's subtle asymmetries and it's lack of ornament. But where Satie's Gnossiennes, Nocturnes and Gymnopedies were blank canvases, deliberately signifying nothing, Waller's pieces are vessels to be filled. That is partly an effect of titles: Waller's pieces on this disc are all 'moments' of autobiographical poignancy - memorials, birthdays, homecomings; friends, teachers, family members. We are clearly invited to invest certain emotional expectations into these sounds. Liner notes by Tim Rutherford-Johnson and "Blue" Gene Tyranny. Mastered by Denis Blackham for digital and compact disc. Mastered and cut for vinyl by Rashad Becker.

Hannibal Lokumbe
CAN YOU HEAR GOD CRYING?
A Spiritatorio

Janice Chandler-Eteme, soprano
Rodrick Dixon, tenor
Paula Holloway, vocals
Homayun Sakhi, rubâb
Alyn E. Waller, readings

The Celebration Choir
(chorus master: J. Donald Dumpson)
The Music Liberation Orchestra
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
Dirk Brossé, conductor

Recorded at Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, United States, 21 September 2012
Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereobr
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Englishbr
Running time: 71 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 5)

This is part of a mini-series on our competitively priced budget label Fabulous under the banner of Jazz Legends, presenting some of great and influential names of jazz, with recordings drawn from the classic era of the genre's development between 1920 and 1950. Thomas "Fats" Waller was a hugely popular and equally influential pianist, organist, singer, composer and comedic entertainer during the formative decades of jazz, and his unique style, and memorable hit songs earned him a special place in the world of entertainment, transcending the boundaries between jazz and wider popular culture, and enjoying success on both sides of the Atlantic. Waller was a pioneer of the stride piano style distinctively associated with Harlem, and it was the basis of many of the hits he wrote, which have become perennially popular standards such as "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Ain't Misbehaving", among many others. This collection traces his career from his first recordings in the early '20s through to just before his untimely death in 1943, when he appeared in the movie "Stormy Weather", and features him performing both on piano and organ, singing hits recorded with quintet or sextet "Fats Waller & His Rhythm", and also accompanying Adelaide Hall. It's an enjoyable snapshot of a great artist's work.

This is the first commercial issue of the complete Lang-Worth Recordings of the legendary Fats Waller, and the sessions took place on Nov. 20, 1939 under the supervision of Cy Langloi, co-owner of Lang-Worth. Fats recorded the 20 selections included here, performing nearly one hour of music at one sitting, playing solo piano, organ & vocals.

This CD presents the only authorized live recordings of "the original rapper and king of the ivories"! Includes Waller's fattest hits - "Ain't Misbehavin'," "Honeysuckle Rose" and "The Joint Is Jumpin'." Part of Buddha Records' Stop Time Series featuring previously unreleased material and audiophile technology.