Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Face the Music 6.26.14

Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now
piano solo 1937

Bond Street
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1939

Star Dust
piano solo 1937

Night Wind
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1935

Basin Street Blues
piano solo 1937

Music Maestro Please
Fats Waller & his Continental Rhythm 1938

Tea for Two
piano solo 1937

Please Keep Me in Your Dreams
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1936

You Meet the Nicest People in Your Dreams
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1939

Yacht Club Swing
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1938

The Sheik of Araby
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1939

Pent Up in a Penthouse
Fats Waller & his Continental Rhythm 1938

Tain’t What You Do It’s The Way That You Do It
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1939

The Moon is Low
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1939

A Good Man Is Hard To Find
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1939

Paswonky
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1936

Take Me Back to the Wide Open Places
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1938

Nagasaki
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1939


Sunday, June 15, 2014

You may recall a series of programs earlier this season composed entirely of songs whose titles were Questions. This week's show is called Fats Waller: Questionable Content. Each title is a question, and it's 100% Waller, as soloist, accompanist, sideman and leader.


Face the Music 6/19/14
Fats Waller: Questionable Content!

Baby, Oh Where Can You Be? {take two}
piano solo 1929

What’s the Matter Now?
Waller accompanying Rosa Henderson 1924

Won’t You Take Me Home?
Morris’ Hot Babies 1927

What’s the Use of Being Alone?
Dunn’s Original Jazz Hounds 1928

Won’t You Get Up Off It, Please?
Fats Waller & his Buddies 1929

Whose Honey Are You?
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1935

How Ya, Baby?
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

Did Anyone Ever Tell You?
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

Why Do I Lie to Myself About You?
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1936

What’s The Reason I’m Not Pleasin’ You?
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1935

What Will I Do in the Morning?
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

Undecided (What Are You Going To Do?)
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1939

How Can I With You In My Heart?
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

Am I In Another World?
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

Why Do Hawaiians Sing Aloha?
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

Gettin’ Much Lately? Ain’t Nothin’ To It
Fats Waller, his Rhythm & Orchestra 1941

Ooh! Looka There, Ain’t She Pretty?
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1936

Oh Sister, Ain’t That Hot?
Eddie Condon & his Band 1940



Thursday, June 12, 2014

Face the Music 6/12/14
Fats Waller: “Honey on the Moon”

1934 Piano Recital:

African Ripples
Clothesline Ballet
Alligator Crawl
Viper’s Drag

Fats Waller & his Rhythm:

Latch On – 1936
You’ve Got Me Under Your Thumb – 1937
Fractious Fingering – 1936
You’re My Dish – 1937
You Went to My Head – 1938
I’d Rather Call You Baby – 1937
There’s Honey on the Moon Tonight – 1938
One in a Million – 1936
Georgia May – 1934
I’ve Got My Fingers Crossed – 1935
Spring Cleaning – 1937
12th Street Rag – 1935
Nero – 1936

Fats Waller, his Rhythm & Orchestra:

I Got Rhythm - 1935

Fats Waller & his Continental Rhythm, London 1938 -

Flat Foot Floogie 



Monday, June 2, 2014

What we have here is evidence that since the first Thursday in May I've been presenting records from the 1920s and '30s featuring Thomas Fats Waller (1904-1943) as soloist, accompanist, sideman or bandleader. Waller is the artist who caused me to get involved in radio many moons ago. 

Most people who know about him think of him as a vocalist with a boisterous sense of humor who also played piano. Thomas Waller was a gifted pianist and a prolific composer as well as the first-ever jazz organist. During his short life this amazing man recorded literally hundreds of songs, and I'm sifting through them for what I think are the best of the lot.

This retrospective is planned as a summer-long weekly feature, and will eventually include material emphasizing "parallel artistry" with records by the man's many friends and followers, and the eventual theme of "songs we wish Mr. Waller had lived long enough to interpret for the people".  

Face the Music 6.05.14
Fats Waller Instrumentals

Serenade for a Wealthy Widow
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1934

I Ain’t Got Nobody {instrumental take}
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1935

Boo Hoo
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

What’s The Reason? {instrumental take}
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1935

The Love Bug Will Bite You If You Don’t Watch Out
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

Whose Honey Are You? {instrumental take}
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1935

Blue, Turning Grey Over You
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

Baby Brown {instrumental take}
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1935

Functionizin’
Fats Waller, his Rhythm & Orchestra 1935

Sweet Heartache {instrumental take}
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

San Anton’ {instrumental take}
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

You Showed Me the Way {instrumental take}
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

Rosetta {instrumental take}
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1935

In the Gloaming
Fats Waller, his Rhythm & Orchestra 1938

I’m 100% for You {instrumental take}
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1935

I’ve Got a New Lease on Love {instrumental take}
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937

Honeysuckle Rose
extended instrumental version with vibraphone solo
by drummer Wilmore Slick Jones
Fats Waller & his Rhythm 1937