I am certainly no jazz expert, but I grew up with this music and it simply does something joyful to me that I can't explain. The selections collected here for this CD were all recorded in one day! - August 7, 1939 - for the Associated Transcriptions Co. in New York. Associated Transcriptions was a company that in the late thirties and early forties recorded many of the period's jazz greats: Waller, Teddy Wilson, and Bob Crosby, among others. At the time Waller recorded these he was already broadcasting regularly on a national radio network. He had already recorded some of these for Victor, but these versions, for some jazz lovers, have something to add to that more available set of recordings.Waller was often underestimated as a laughable, lovable clown of the piano, but he was, in fact, a superlatively skilled pianist and an effective vocalist. His piano style followed in the footsteps of Willie 'The Lion' Smith and James P. Johnson, and he almost certainly influenced such later stars as Art Tatum. The first eleven selections are with his group (John Hamilton, trumpet; Gene Sedric, clarinet & tenor sax; John Smith, guitar; Cedric Wallace, bass; and Slick Jones, drums). The last five are Waller solos. Many of them feature his inimitable vocals and some (e.g. 'The Spider and the Fly') have spoken intros in the humorous Fats style. Since Naxos hasn't, as of the date of this note, listed the contents, here they are:
The Moon Is Low
The Sheik of Araby
B Flat Blues
Honeysuckle Rose
Ain't Misbehavin'
Sweet Sue, Just You
Nagasaki
I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby
The Spider and the Fly
Lonesome Me
After You've Gone
Poor Butterfly
St. Louis Blues
Hallelujah
Tea for Two
Handful of Keys
For some reason, not explained in the liner notes, 'Dinah,' part of that 1939 set was not included on this CD.
I suspect you wouldn't be looking at this note if you weren't already familiar with Waller's work. A comment by me on their worth seems unnecessary, but I will say that this issue brings me unalloyed joy every time I play it. The sound of the transfer by David Lennick is clean and darn good for the period.
TT=50:36
Scott Morrison
