Middle Years 1
While the swing era has been strongly identified with big bands, few musicians of the period enjoyed the success of Fats Waller, who spent most of the period happily leading a sextet. While Waller's popularity was inevitably tied to his casual vocals and the scale of his personality--his verbal humor can become a running commentary on an instrumental--Waller was one of the greatest pianists who ever played jazz. Part of a comprehensive series of Waller's band recordings for RCA, this three-CD set covers his work from December 1936 to April 1938. As with every volume in the series, there's a mix of novelty vocals, sentimental ballads, and superior pop songs. What distinguishes all of it is the genius of the Waller piano, from animated stride to the most thoughtful chord, all of it delivered with a lightness of touch that inspired pianists like Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson. In the spirit of the times, Waller expanded "His Rhythm" to a 14-piece band for the final session, which includes rousing versions of "Sheik of Araby" andDuke Ellington's "Skrontch."--Stuart Broomer