Search - Fats Waller :: Fats Waller - Greatest Hits

Fabulous music trapped by bad engineering

02/19/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"When buying reissues of the great recording artists of the past, you know that you are getting some of the greatest music of all time. So the only question is, how well did the engineers do in getting the sound off the vulnerable old 78 record format into today's digital format? On this matter, the RCA Victor label, and engineer Paul Brizzi in particular, have a poor record. On this Fast Waller CD (as well as the RCA "Swingin' Uptown" collection), Brizzi shows his taste is to eliminate all surface noise as well as all the higher music frequencies the sound. The result is a tired, dead, and old quality in the music on these CDs. That's a shame indeed. For the exact opposite, get any CD with the name Steven Lasker on it. On the Cd "The Best of the Duke Ellington Centennial Edition", you can hear Lasker and Brizzi square off --- Lasker engineers the first half, Brizzi the second half. You'll hear how vibrant the sound is that is stored away on those old 78s in Lasker's tracks, how dull they can be if poorly engineered on Brizzi's tracks. I don't know which Fats Waller CD to recommend for good sound. Too bad you can't search Amazon for other album credits besides titles."

An Excellent Overview of Fats Waller!

Johnny Boy | Hockessin, DE | 04/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Fats Waller overview is the cheapest and yet at the same time best Fats Waller Overview available. This is a great place to start if you are new to the legendary music of Fats Waller.



If you want all the Waller classics in one very small, cheap package, you've found them! Ain't Misbehavin', Handful Of Keys, Smashing Thirds, etc. are all here. There isn't really a missing track on here, which is very unusual. And like so many other CDs in RCA Victor's Greatest Hits series, you get the state of the art sound that every greatest hits record deserves.



If Fats Waller would've stayed alive a lot longer, then his music would get much more respect, which would be nice. But during his very brief career, he recorded on RCA and RCA only, meaning that this collection features ALL the hits instead of just a couple.



Excellent sound quality, excellent music. And if you like piano jazz, then Fats Waller is somebody not to ignore. *Highly recommended!* ENJOY!"

The greatest jazz musician of all time

Bill Moore | Montgomery, NJ | 11/04/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fats Waller is by far the best jazz musician of all time. This collection is a great synopsis of his better performances. I, personally, love every song."