⬇️ FATS WALLER ⬇️
(Thomas Wright Waller)
DISCOGRAPHY 1934-2022 (148CD)
Thomas Wright Waller started playing the piano when he was six and
graduated to the organ of his father's church four years later. At the
age of fourteen he was playing the organ at Harlem's Lincoln Theater and
within twelve months he had composed his first rag.
Waller's first piano solos (Muscle Shoals Blues and Birmingham Blues) were recorded in October 1922 when he was only 18 years old.
He was a skilled pianist, and master of stride piano, having been the prize pupil and later friend and colleague of the greatest of the stride pianists, James P. Johnson. Waller was one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe.
(Thomas Wright Waller)
DISCOGRAPHY 1934-2022 (148CD)
BIOGRAPHY
Waller's first piano solos (Muscle Shoals Blues and Birmingham Blues) were recorded in October 1922 when he was only 18 years old.
He was a skilled pianist, and master of stride piano, having been the prize pupil and later friend and colleague of the greatest of the stride pianists, James P. Johnson. Waller was one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe.
He was also a prolific songwriter and many songs he wrote or co-wrote are
still popular, such as "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and
"Squeeze Me". Fellow pianist and composer Oscar Levant dubbed Waller "the
black Horowitz".
Waller composed many novelty swing tunes in the 1920s and 1930s and sold
them for relatively small sums. When the compositions became hits, other
songwriters claimed them as their own. Many standards are alternatively
and sometimes controversially attributed to Waller.
The anonymous sleeve notes on the 1960 RCA (UK) album Handful of Keys
state that Waller copyrighted over 400 new tunes, many of which co-written
with his closest collaborator Andy Razaf.
After Waller's death in 1943, Razaf described his partner as "the soul of
melody... a man who made the piano sing... both big in body and in mind...
known for his generosity... a bubbling bundle of joy".
Gene Sedric, a clarinetist who played with Waller on some of his 1930s
recordings, is quoted in these same sleeve notes recalling Waller's
recording technique with considerable admiration. "Fats was the most
relaxed man I ever saw in a studio," he said, "and so he made everybody
else relaxed. After a balance had been taken, we'd just need one take to
make a side, unless it was a kind of difficult number."
NEW!
ESSENTIAL CLASSICS
Vol. 329 Fats Waller (2CD) @FLAC