1935 Transcriptions

by Waller,Fats

Overview

One fine day, Fats Waller ambled into a New York studio and knocked out a stack of a dozen 16" transcription discs for Muzak-Associated Transcriptions. (Can you imagine anyone pulling that off so casually today in the span of a few hours?) The transcriptions are mostly medleys of many of Waller's tunes and cover versions that he was recording for Victor, interspersed with the fat man's inimitable comments and verbal mugging. While Rudy Powell turns up on clarinet on the first medley and on alto sax on the second, Waller goes it alone everywhere else, turning out seemingly perfect takes every time. As the vast bulk of Waller recordings of the '30s were with his nifty combo, this is an unusual opportunity to hear Waller on his own at this time -- and, needless to say, he generates plenty of rhythm without any help. Most valuable are some of his solo piano compositions, like "African Ripples" with its strikingly Gershwinesque harmonies, the classic "Handful of Keys," and a fantasia called "Clothesline Ballet." Along with the more commercial medleys, which run between five and a half and seven and a half minutes in length, there are three short solo piano compositions; among these, the super stride workout "Zonky" is only a minute and 41 seconds in length, and "Alligator Crawl" anticipates Duke Ellington's "Pitter Panther Patter." The transfers are subdued but thankfully not distorted, with mostly quiet transcription surfaces. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Product Details

Release Date:	08/21/2001
Label:	NAXOS
UPC:	0636943257722

Tracks

1. Baby Brown/Viper's Drag/How Can You Face Me/Down Home Blues
2. Dinah/Handful of Keys/Solitude
3. I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby/Tea for Two/Believe It, Beloved
4. Sweet Sue, Just You/Somebody Stole My Game/Honeysuckle Rose
5. Night Wind/African Ripples/Because of Once Upon a Time
6. Where Were You on the Night of June the Third?/Clothesline ...
7. Fats Waller's Original E Flat Blues
8. Alligator Crawl
9. Zonky
10. Hallelujah/Do Me a Favor/California Here I Come
11. I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling/My Fate Is in Your Hands/Ain't ...
12. You're the Top/Blue Turning Grey Over You/Russian Fantasy

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Fats Waller   Primary Artist,Vocals,Piano
Rudy Powell   Clarinet,Sax (Alto)

Technical Credits

David Lennick   Compilation Producer,Producer,Transfers
Fats Waller   Composer
Charles Tobias   Composer
Joe Young   Composer
Sam M. Lewis   Composer
Leo Wood   Composer
Peter Tinturin   Composer
Val Burton   Composer
Peter Dempsey   Liner Notes
Harry Brooks   Composer
Harry Akst   Composer
Tom Delaney   Composer
Al Jolson   Composer
Alex Hill   Composer
Buddy DeSylva   Composer
Harry Link   Composer
Vincent Youmans   Composer
Will J. Harris   Composer
Irving Caesar   Composer
Clarence Williams   Composer
Leo Robin   Composer
Lew Pollack   Composer
George A. Whiting   Composer
Harry Stride   Composer
Victor Young   Composer
Frank Galbreath   Composer
Ron Hoares   Design
Bob Rothberg   Composer
Graham Newton   Digital Noise Reduction
Frank Magine   Composer
Andy Razaf   Composer
Bernard Maltin   Composer
Billy Rose   Composer
Cole Porter   Composer
Duke Ellington   Composer
James P. Johnson   Composer
Joe Davis   Composer
Clifford Grey   Composer