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AUSTRALIAN IMPORT
A wonderfully selected chronological taste of Fats Waller from his first piano solo up through the glorious ensemble swing of 1935. Many recent U.S. attempts at a Waller sampler seem haphazard by comparison. Ever since the deletion of his entire Bluebird catalog, the European labels have been a great source of consolation for disgruntled admirers of this man's music. One irritating shortcoming of most American reissues has been an apparent reluctance to include more than a thimbleful of Waller's exciting material from the 1920s. Nearly half of the sides included here date from before 1930. This allows the listener to follow the growth of the young Thomas Waller and to arrive at a greater appreciation of his impact upon the world. Here is Fats cutting a hot piano solo at the age of 19, daring to play such stuff on the pipe organ a few years later, and incorporating both instruments into hot ensembles, resulting in some of the toughest records of the entire decade. Waller was the first jazz organist, and the inclusion of two organ solos makes this disc all the more valuable, even if the liner notes imply that he didn't record with the organ between the years 1929 and 1942. For the purposes of this CD, three will do, but there are plenty more piano solos where these came from, and one can never have enough. What you have here then is Waller at his very best. Hopefully it will inspire some folks to go out and pursue the rest of his recordings, even if they have to purchase them from the French or the Dutch or the Swedes.
Condition: Brand New Factory Sealed
TRACK LISTING
1 Ain't Misbehavin' 1:06
2 The Joint Is Jumpin' 3:01
3 Inside (aka Inside This Heart of Mine) 3:00
4 I Had to Do It 2:14
5 E Flat Blues 2:48
6 Hold My Hand 2:28
7 Stop Beatin' 'Round the Mulberry Bush 2:54
8 What's the Matter with You 2:29
9 Hallelujah! 1:36
10 What's Your Name? 3:32
11 I Simply Adore You 2:31
12 My Best Wishes 2:29
13 Handful of Keys 1:57
14 The Sheik of Araby 3:16
15 The Flat Foot Floogie 4:01
16 St. Louis Blues 1:57
17 Pent up in a Penthouse 3:34
18 Honeysuckle Rose 3:40
19 I Got Rhythm 2:36
20 Some of These Days 2:12
21 After You've Gone 2:00
22 The Yacht Club Swing 3:12
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