FATS WALLER – 1941 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1068 (1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Just a few days short of his 37th birthday, Thomas "Fats" Waller recorded five outstanding piano solos. These would turn out to be the last unaccompanied studio piano records of his career, with the exception of those somewhat alcohol-driven V-Disc platters from September of 1943. The 1941 Victor solos are studies in immaculate ease. The artist's choices are fascinating: two pleasantly reflective Hoagy Carmichael reveries, James P. Johnson's throw-down showpiece the "Carolina Shout," a delicate rendering of Duke Ellington's "Ring Dem Bells" and the ultimate interpretation of Waller's own "Honeysuckle Rose." The original 78rpm label bore the distinctive subtitle: "à la Bach-Beethoven-Brahms-Waller." Classics (1068) would be worth having just for the piano solos, even if it didn't convey all the excitement of Waller's small and large band recordings from this very transitional year. "Twenty Four Robbers" is particularly funny, and "Sad Sap Sucker" is an example of the kind of song Waller wrote in collaboration with his manager Ed Kirkeby. They also came up with several saucy numbers that Fats would record with his big band in Los Angeles during the summer of '41. The "Rump Steak Serenade" is an over-the-top paean to red meat, resounding with Waller's refrain: "let me stick my fork in the gravy!" The boisterous "Come and Get It" has more than vaguely sexual overtones, but "Ain't Nothing to It," which posed the question "Gettin' much lately?" was considered too near the bone and remained unissued until many years after Waller's demise. "Chant of the Groove" has a shouted scat intro by the pianist. Interestingly, his first two syllables come out as "be bop," but this is straightforward big band swing. The small group session of October 1, 1941 is most notable for Al Casey's guitar work on "Buck Jumpin'," Gene Sedric and John "Bugs" Hamilton's lively interplay in front of Waller's bubbly Hammond organ on "Clarinet Marmalade" and a lovely understated opus inspired by "The Bells of San Raquel." While "That Gets It, Mr. Joe" is rowdier, and the more-than-somewhat misogynistic "Bessie, Bessie, Bessie" is much saltier, "San Raquel" allows Waller to reveal the quieter side of his personality. For this reason the song never makes it on to any Waller "Best Of" collections. Be grateful that we have the Classics chronological series, for this is the only way to truly get to know someone who was so complex. "Winter Weather" is another heartwarming example of that marvelous creature, the relaxed Fats Waller. "Cash for Your Trash," an entire song devoted to the subject of metal recycling, was his first contribution to the war effort. By December 1943 he had literally worked himself to death by entertaining troops at all hours and selling U.S. bonds on the air. These 1941 sides could be considered the first of what would be his last studio recordings. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist + Credits :

VALAIDA SNOW – 1940-1953 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1343 | (2004) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

When Valaida Snow made a handful of hot records in Copenhagen during October of 1940, she had no idea that her recording career was about to be violently interrupted for nearly five years by people working for Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany had already occupied Denmark when these "degenerate" jazz records were surreptitiously created in violation of the Nuremberg laws. In a horrible twist of fate, Snow was arrested by the Gestapo, charged with theft and drug use -- two activities at which the Nazis themselves excelled -- and spent many months in a concentration camp before being rescued by influential friends and sent back to the U.S. weighing about 70 lbs. Everything she'd owned had been confiscated, including the gold trumpet given her by Queen Wilhelmina. It took Snow several years to recuperate and gather her strength for a comeback. Her last two authentic swing records are placed at the beginning of this disc. These are amazingly gutsy performances of nice old songs, and she scats beautifully during "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny." The contrast between this pair of pleasant, cheerful stomps and the rest of the material in the chronology -- beginning with the Apollo session of 1945 -- is startling. Recording in New York for the first time since 1933 and sounding at times like young Dinah Washington, Snow sings three torchy ballads and a novelty bounce backed by Bobby Smith, his alto sax and orchestra. The bounce in question is called "Around the World" and features two harmonizing Valaidas in an early example of overdubbing. Her next couple of recording dates took place in Los Angeles, where prevailing pop production values seem to have infected the atmosphere alarmingly. Eight sides issued on the Bel-Tone label prove that Snow was a powerful singer who could flourish in front of any ensemble, even the huge orchestra with strings, flutes, and a keening vocal group billed as the Daydreamers. Snow prevails throughout, especially on "Lonesome Road," where her passionate singing transcends the entire ungainly production menagerie. On the second Bel-Tone session, Snow navigates well through the "exotic" orchestral score of "Caravan." Her ominously paced version of "Solitude" makes for an interesting comparison with Billie Holiday's approach to this Ellington opus. After a pokey, pouty, and slightly insane-sounding lament bearing the almost too-appropriate title "Frustration," Snow sails into "I Must Have That Man." With a brassy big band behind her, the singer sounds more at home than on any of the previous seven selections. From here on out Valaida Snow's story shifts into R&B territory. Recording for the Derby label in January of 1950, she was backed with a rocking jump band led by Jimmy Mundy, spiked with the fiery presences of baritone saxophonist Dave McRae and hot trumpeter Jonah Jones. "Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone" is the cooker. "Chloe" begins with bass clarinet tones and delivers an incredible emotional charge as Snow belts out the lyrics with theatrical intensity. "Coconut Head" is a calypso novelty number, somewhat of a trend in 1950 -- even Sarah Vaughan did a number like this back then. The saga of Valaida Snow tapers off abruptly with two exciting R&B performances recorded in Chicago in 1953. "I Ain't Gonna Tell," a funky baritone sax rocker, is a tantalizing taste of further developments the world would never get to hear from this tough little woman. Underappreciated and grievously underpaid, she struggled to establish herself as a performer in a country where the public had never been all that aware of her existence. Following a performance at New York's Palace Theatre she was felled by a stroke and passed away at the age of 50 in a Brooklyn hospital on the 30th of May 1956. arwulf arwulf   
Tracklist :
1 Some of These Days 2:36
Shelton Brooks
 2 Carry Me Back to Old Virginny 2:49
James A. Bland
 3 The More I Know About Love 2:21
Valaida Snow
4 Around the World  2:33
Bennie Benjamin / George David Weiss
5 Porgy 2:45
Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh
6 My Heart Is Such a Fool 2:00
Valaida Snow
7 Fool That I Am 3:04
Floyd Hunt
 8 It's the Talk of the Town 2:57
Jerry Livingston / Al J. Neiburg / Marty Symes
 9 Lonesome Road 2:55
Gene Austin / Nat Shilkret
 10 If I Only Had You 2:42
Valaida Snow
11 Caravan 2:55
Duke Ellington / Irving Mills / Juan Tizol
 12 Solitude 2:52
Eddie DeLange / Duke Ellington / Irving Mills
 13 Frustration 2:54
Irving Mills
 14 I Must Have That Man 2:10
Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh
 15 Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone 3:07
Traditional
 16 When a Woman Loves a Man 2:34
Bernie Hanighen / Gordon Jenkins / Johnny Mercer
 17 Chloe 3:08
Neil Moret (Chas. N. Daniels)
 18 Coconut Head 2:55
Valaida Snow
19 I Ain't Gonna Tell 2:36
Rudy Toombs
 20 If You Don't Mean It 2:56
Valaida Snow
Credits :    
Alto Saxophone, Leader – Bobby Smith (3) (tracks: 7 to 10)
Baritone Saxophone – Dave McRae (tracks: 15 to 18)
Bass – Willy Sorensen (tracks: 1, 2)
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Aage Voss (tracks: 1, 2)
Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Henry Hagemann-Larsen* (tracks: 1, 2)
Directed By – Jimmy Mundy (tracks: 15 to 18)
Drums, Vibraphone – Eric Kragh
Piano – Bertrand Beck (tracks: 1, 2)
Trumpet – Jonah Jones (tracks: 15 to 18), Tage Rasmussen (tracks: 1, 2)
Vocals – The Day Dreamers (tracks: 7 to 10), Valaida Snow (tracks: 3 to 6)
Vocals, Trumpet – Valaida Snow (tracks: 1, 2, 7 to 20)