Search - Fats Waller :: Live at Yacht Club

Fats' only live recording. A treasury of swing !

JEAN-MARIE JUIF | BESANCON France | 08/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although Thomas "Fats" Waller recorded extensively during his short life (he died in 1943 aged 39),it seems that nobody never thought of recording him during a performance in a club.Neither with other great musicians of his time.He made a handful of recordings with Jack Teagarden,Eddie Condon,Pee Wee Russell,Benny Carter,Rex Stewart,Bunny Berigan,Coleman Hawkins and Louis Armstrong.This live recording,made at the Yacht Club,NYC,on October 14 and 18,1938,is exceptionnal for many reasons; first,this is,I think,Fats' only live recording; then,the sound quality is really great,even better than on some studio sessions (it's rare to hear so perfectly Slick Jones' drumming);and Fats is in a great mood,swinging like mad through "honeysuckle rose","pent up in a penthouse","after you've gone","flat foot floogee" and "Yacht Club swing".They are shadows of his great friend,Art Tatum, in his version of "Hallelujah".Herman Autrey plays fine trumpet choruses through the record.And of course,we enjoy the great swing of guitar player Al Casey,who was to Fats what Freddie Greene was to Basie, and who is the only survivor of the band.Today, at 86,Al Casey is still playing.They are only a few musicians of which we can say that every tune they recorded is a gem: Earl Hines,Tatum,Lester Young,Billie Holiday,Doc Cheatham,MaryLou Williams and a few others. And Fats. That's why this album is a must for every jazz lover."