Fats Waller has got the join jumpin’ and from France we continue with funk from Dajla. We wrap up with 13 versions of "Jitterbug Waltz" featuring the composer Fats Waller on organ, plus Bobby Battle Quartet, Abbey Lincoln, Bobby Hutcherson, Zoot Sims, Dinah Washington, Brooklyn Sax Quartet, Oliver Jones, Randy Weston, Pyeng Threadgill, Marcus Roberts Trio, Santi Debriano, and Nat Yarbrough.
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His talents, like his personality and physique, were far larger than average. The sobriquet ‘Fats’ accurately described Waller’s appetite for the pleasures of life. Indeed, his prodigious ability to invoke pleasure was his signature on the music he chose to make.
While Waller always seems to be having a ball, we should not be fooled. Impromptu asides and manic one-liners were mere sparkles on a truly impressive musical tree. Although Fats was a master of stride piano in addition to his entertainment prowess, what has stood the proverbial test of time has been his skill as a composer.
Thirty-five years after Waller’s untimely death, a revival of Waller’s famous compositions in the form of a 1978 musical won four Tony Awards. A London production was a nominee for musical of the year. A 1982 NBC broadcast won two Emmys along with an additional six nominations in various categories. A 1988 Broadway revival received a Tony nomination. That’s an impressive posthumous track record and it’s well deserved.
The Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller trademark is irrepressible joie de vivre. Think about not just his legendary breadth but also his musical depth, seldom does highly entertaining music have the serious and long-lasting impact as does the music of Thomas “Fats” Waller and for that we should be thankful. Fats Waller seriously makes us feel good.