When young
Thomas Waller began to develop himself as a professional pianist under the tutelage of the great
James P. Johnson, he followed in his mentor's footsteps by cutting both phonograph records and player piano rolls. While the sound recordings are generally recognized as precious relics of early jazz, any intelligent assessment of
Waller's early work must also take into account those tightly wound scrolls of perforated paper. Each piano roll was created over a lengthy span of time, first by the pianist whose every note was marked onto a roll by a specially chalked recording mechanism, then by a team of engineers who manually punched hundreds of little holes to create the master roll. Much critical emphasis has been placed upon some technicians' tendency to add notes during this leg of the process, resulting in cluttered or "impossible" passages, or to repeat entire sections verbatim in order to increase the duration of the roll. The fact remains that player piano rolls formed a substantial part of the bedrock of young
Fats Waller's career. In 1990 the Biograph label, having originally brought out all of
Waller's known rolls on LP, compiled 13 choice examples on this CD entitled
Low Down Papa. Highlights include a swell rendition of
Bessie Smith's "Jailhouse Blues," amazing versions of "Your Time Now," "Haitian Blues," "Do It! Mister So and So," and a thrilling
Waller/
Johnson duet performance of "Cryin' for My Used to Be." The fact that
Waller's "Wild Cat Blues" wasn't actually played by him is immaterial; hearing this stimulating melody played back in this manner is a real treat. (
Waller's piano rolls may also be heard played through a Compton theater organ on
Fats at the Organ on ASV/Living Era 5007, 1992.)