Fractious Fingering: Early Years 3

The 41 tracks on this two-CD set all date from an eight-month period between April and November of 1936, but Waller was brilliant as well as prolific and the quality of his piano playing never lets up. He's accompanied throughout by his regular sidemen: trumpeter Herman Autrey, Gene Sedric on clarinet and tenor sax, guitarist Al Casey, and bassist Charles Turner. Drummer Yank Porter is replaced by Slick Jones in midcourse, but there's no loss of bounce to the band Waller called His Rhythm. There's a special delight in the all-instrumental (though Waller does talk) session of June 8, including a take on Bach called "Bach Up to Me." Waller was a great songwriter, but the only song of his to appear in these recordings in the infectious "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby." It doesn't really matter, though, because Waller manages to sing other people's songs--like "Christopher Columbus" and "Hallelujah! Things Look Rosy Now"--in a way that sounds as if he made them up on the spot. While Waller's wit and high spirits prevail, there are moments that reveal his other sides: his celesta combines with Sedric's round tenor for an intro of incredible sweetness to "Cabin in the Sky." --Stuart Broomer