During his short life
Thomas Wright Waller made it onto an enormous number of phonograph records as soloist, leader, sideman and accompanist. Each decade in the second half of the 20th century brought forth Fats
Waller albums that ranged from budget "best-of" collections to intensive chronological surveys. It wasn't until 2006 that producer
Ted Kendall and the
JSP label began fulfilling the lifelong ambition of jazz archivist and remastering wizard
John R.T. Davies by setting out to reissue literally every recording that
Waller is known or believed to have made, in one extended anthology of unprecedented proportions. Packaged in reasonably priced four-CD sets, every episode in
Waller's 21-year recording career has been revisited with precision. For sound quality and meticulous exactitude, no one has ever handled the recorded evidence more lovingly or thoroughly. Volume 6, swollen to five CDs for a total of 25 discs thus far in the series (more than a full day of uninterrupted listening for those who are so inclined) contains all of his studio recordings dating from the spring of 1940 through to the V-Disc session of September 16, 1943, almost exactly three months to the day before his sudden death at the age of 39. The complete range of
Waller's musical personality is represented here, from intimate ballads to some of his all-time rowdiest blow-outs.
As yet another fine manifestation of
JSP's willingness to include material not found on standard
RCA Victor Fats Waller editions, the extra material on this set is positively exhilarating.
Waller is heard with a jazz band led by
Commodore kingpin
Eddie Condon in 1940; these instrumental jams are triumphant exercises in traditionally oriented, small band swing. Rare third takes of some of the
Commodore titles are greatly appreciated, and the interaction between
Waller and clarinetist
Pee Wee Russell is magnificent. One of the few studio recordings in the
Waller discography dating from 1942, a snappy performance of
Irving Berlin's propagandistic WWII opus,
"That's What the Well-Dressed Man in Harlem Will Wear," has Broadway-style backing by the
Victor First-Nighter Orchestra. Three musical numbers from the soundtrack of the film
Stormy Weather were recorded in January 1943; while singing
"That Ain't Right," Ada Brown is consistently interrupted by cruel and salty backtalk from
Waller, who ends the song with a bracingly misogynistic "suffer, excess baggage, suffer!" The V-Discs, which were intended for world-wide distribution among Armed forces personnel, feature
Waller at the piano and the Hammond organ. They vary from emotionally steeped reveries like
"Solitude" and
"Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" to brusquely delivered delights like
"The Reefer Song";
"This Is So Nice, It Must Be Illegal"; a sendup of
"Two Sleepy People" (he liked to say "sloppy" instead of "sleepy"); an entire song about birds who feed on horse fodder, and a dazzlingly executed rendition of
Vincent Youmans'
"Hallelujah." Numerous extremely rare, unissued V-Discs, which were discovered in his personal record collection, create the impression that this set contains the Dead Sea Scrolls of
Waller Studies. A gorgeous medley of
"To a Wild Rose" and
"Don't Get Around Much Any More" is particularly enthralling.
Disc "E" includes seven recordings on which
Waller's presence has been disputed, despite long-standing black-and-white discographical evidence. That might well have been
Waller backing
Ethel Waters in 1924, and it is very likely that he played in the orchestra accompanying pop singer
Gene Austin. One of the songs sung by
Austin was written by
Waller, the two men enjoyed a mutually respectful friendship, and they made records together on more than this one occasion. Whether the organist on
"Chloe" and
"When You're with Somebody Else" was
Waller (as indicated by the session's supervisor
Nat Shilkret) or
Sigmund Krumgold (according to the group's pianist
Milton Rettenburg), these are delightful period pieces and their presence on this collection is fortuitous and heartwarming.
"Wipe 'Em Off" as performed by the
Seven Gallon Jug Band has piano by
Willie "The Lion" Smith and a vocal by
Clarence Williams. The spoken interjections were almost certainly by bass saxophonist
Frank Robinson, not
Waller. As this group cut two versions of this song one month apart, perhaps the other rendition (not included here) is the one on which
Waller was audible. Note that just as the better take of
"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" was tucked away with the alternates at the end of Volume 5, what is presented here as the alternate take of
"You Run Your Mouth" is decidedly superior to the disorganized, rushed version presented on disc "A" of Volume 6. Fortunately, most of
Waller's recorded output is now available from
JSP so that listeners will be able to make their own distinctions. All that remains for
JSP to tackle is
Waller's remaining alternate takes, his complete radio transcription recordings (most of them dating from 1935 and 1939); his many live performances and radio broadcasts (especially a joyous 1938 jam session with
Louis Armstrong on
Martin Block's
Make Believe Ballroom show); as well as several film soundtracks, interviews, private acetate recordings, and player piano rolls. That ought to fill a seventh volume of four or five discs, and if
JSP puts it together a lot of people will be happy to snap it up. ~ arwulf arwulf
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