Excellent compilation of Fats Waller's recordings...both solo piano tracks and with his band. He sings on some of the songs too...as always, his music making puts a smile on your face and gets your toes a tappin'!

Fats Waller was one of the great artists of American popular song between the two world wars, and he ruled in at least three arenas: songwriting, pianoplaying, and singing. This CD is the best one-disc collection of his work, with a good mix of his best work in all three areas. About the only track I'd like to see that isn't here is "African Ripples," but it does have "This Joint Is Jumpin'" "Viper's Drag," "Porter's Lovesong," "Handful of Keys," and one of the two really great versions Waller did of "Honeysuckle Rose." Although it says "Collector's Choice," it's an album for enjoyment as much as completeness.

Normally when you want to buy an album of songs recorded before the World War II, you are torn between its comprehensiveness and sound quality. CD's that give well-remastered sound quality are normally too short to really cover "the best" or "the essentials" of the artist's works while full length CD's are normally either too expensive or not well-remastered. This reasonably-priced CD is an exception. It contains over 72 minutes of a total of 24 well-remastered tracks including many Fats' signature works like "Your Feet's Too Big", "All That Meat and No Potatoes", "Handful of Keys", "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby" and "Two Sleepy People". The inclusion of two different versions of "Honeysuckle Rose" on this single CD is really a surprising bonus. I spent much time comparing and evaluating Fats Waller's CD's and I finally picked this one for it's both well-priced and well-remastered and that it contains all the songs I want. Some tracks still contain noticeable background noise but it's certainly immaterial when you compare to the rarity of this compilation. If you can't get this excellent CD, try RCA's "The Very Best of Fats Waller" (released 2000) and Stardust Records' "Fats Waller: The Best of the War Years" (released 2002). These two shorter alternatives are not as comprehensive as this one but they are also good compilations. Try your best to get this very best compilation and you won't regret!