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October 12, 2005
TT: Try it
Thomas Waller, universally known as "Fats" for self-evident reasons, is one of the few great jazz musicians who was for a time popular with the public at large, though not for his hugely influential piano playing. In the Thirties and Forties, Waller led a combo billed as "Fats Waller and His Rhythm" that featured his maniacally gleeful singing of ephemeral pop songs. (This is my attempt to transcribe his vocal on "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie.") Waller's eye-rollingly comic side has always made priggish critics squirm, but it was in fact central to both his character and his artistry. Had he never sung a note, he'd still be remembered for the poise and fluidity of such unaccompanied piano solos as the exquisite "I Ain't Got Nobody," but it is because of his life-enhancing singing that he was--and is--beloved.Most anthologies of classic jazz recordings appear to have been put together on the how-could-they-possibly-have-left-that-one-out principle, but the aptly named The Quintessence: New York-Camden-Los Angeles 1929-1943 (Frémeaux & Associés FA 207, two CDs) really is just as advertised, containing thirty-six unerringly chosen tracks that comprise between them the quintessence of Fats Waller as both singer and pianist. If you can listen to "Baby Brown," "Sweet and Slow," or "You're Not the Only Oyster in the Stew" without breaking out in an ear-to-ear smile, you might as well button up your hair shirt and stick to Machaut or Tori Amos. God didn't mean for you to be happy.
Posted October 12, 2005 12:03 PM
