Customer Reviews for Fats Waller Collection
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Stewart G
Location: from Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Difficulty Level:
Advanced
April 22, 2012
Excellent
A comprehensive transcription of Fats Waller's greatest hits. Be warned: some challenging stuff in this!
10 of 19 people found this review helpful.
Amy Rothstein
Location: from McLean, Va.
Difficulty Level:
Advanced
May 9, 2008
Great Transcriptions of Fats Waller Piano Solos
Paul Poznak has created a collection of the best Fats Waller Piano hits transcribing note for note what he has heard on recordings so that a pianist like me who doesn't have the ability to pick up by ear complicated music such as this can have the satifying experience of playing these great songs just as Fats would have played them.
26 of 47 people found this review helpful.
Anonymous
Location: from
Difficulty Level:
Intermediate/advanced
April 23, 2008
Best darn music around
No matter what style you like best I think that you're going fall in love with Fats Waller. He created such a unique style, which has made him stand out from all the other pianists of his time. Everyone with truly be in amazed when you sit down at the piano and start playing on of his songs.
24 of 47 people found this review helpful.
Daniel P
Location: from France
Difficulty Level:
Advanced
February 19, 2008
Very valuable
I have waited for very long to come across exact transcriptions of Fats Waller's best piano solos. Until now I had only seen inexact or shortened versions, often exluding the most difficult and exciting parts. Paul Posnaks insight here is very valuable and helps those who have the abilities to get very close to Fats's sound, allthough it's very hard. I was, however, slightly disapointed to see some faults, certainly due to to the transition from Mr. Posnak's own scores to the print; there are some accidentals missing and some chords are rythmicaly misplaced but this is rather easy to repair if you know the recordings. I hope that some of the great missing solos will also be edited, as 'Carolina Shout', 'Georgia on my mind' and 'Hallelujah'. 5 stars for the painstaking pioneer work for transcribing some of the greatest and finest stride solo pieces ever.
23 of 46 people found this review helpful.
Lennart Hjelmstedt
Location: from Sweden
Difficulty Level:
Early intermediate
December 11, 2007
revival
I like this collection which enables me to sound like Fats....or at least a bit of it. The touch that was his can few imitate, but his music is still very much alive.
27 of 49 people found this review helpful.
Professional musician
Location: from NYC
Difficulty Level:
Advanced
December 1, 2007
Great transcriptions - not user friendly
Awesome book. Accurate transcriptions. A wealth of knowledge at your fingertips. However, if you are more of a "jazz" player, note that the music is notated in the classical style approximation of swing - using dotted eighth- sixteenth notes as opposed to the more "straight ahead" way of notating in straight eighths, with the swing feel implied. IMHO, the "classical approximation" makes the music unnecessarily complicated on the page. (especially since in the faster tempo numbers, the swing is more about the accents, and the feel is more straight anyway...) If the rhythms are read literally, you could run for mayor of Squaresville. (ok, that was a cheap shot....sorry) Had it been done with eighth note notation, the syncopated rhythms would be much easier to read, and much more simple and elegant on the page... as well as being more true to what an actual jazz musician would read in the professional realm.
23 of 42 people found this review helpful.
Bob Wimhurst
Location: from Bob Wimhurst - England
October 18, 2007
amazing achievement
I have to thank Paul Posnak for undertaking such a masterly enterprise. Now at 60 I can play those wonderful chords, tenths and dissonances which I listened to in London as a child with my father who was a Fats freak. We both marvelled at the creative skill which was Fats. At last I have the chance to practice and learn that big stride piano for myself as an amateur jazz fan. The CD is essential to appreciate the nuances and help the way through - but as with another review about this music - I regret that P.Posnak has not published the transcription of Sweet Savannah Sue. To have it on the CD but not in the sheet music album is disappointing. [...]A million thanks Mr. Posnak !
9 of 14 people found this review helpful.
Hal Stathers
Location: from Canada
Difficulty Level:
Advanced
March 7, 2007
Comprehensive, acurate and a credit to the author
These pages contain the best versions that illustrate the genius of "Fats" Waller. They are accurate in every detail. Any player that adds one of these to his work will open new horizons and gain a greater appreciation of the skills that "Fats" used as a celebrated entertainer. Every serious student should have at least one of these. Ain't Misbehavin and Honeysuckle Rose are a "must have".
7 of 13 people found this review helpful.
Murray Taylor
Location: from NSW, Australia
July 31, 2005
Brilliant.
I am 13 years old and I love stride. This book is a landmark achievement, and sadly what we don't see enough of. All the pieces are worth learning, despite the undeniable difficulty of all the pieces in this collection. But don't attempt if you can't play a solid tenth!
8 of 15 people found this review helpful.
D. F. Lovell
Location: from New York
Difficulty Level:
Advanced
May 26, 2004
At Last
Massive achievment. After being mesmerised listening to Russian Fantasy as a teen, I was delighted finally to find a transcription of the piece, but there are still a few decrepancies from the recording I personally have, such as the opening repeated bars. I would have welcomed a transcription of one of the 'Love or Leave me' recordings. Maybe Mr. Paul Posnak might oblige ?
8 of 15 people found this review helpful.
Steve Wasko
Location: from Bowie, MD
Difficulty Level:
Advanced
November 26, 2003
Definitive Collection
Outstanding transcriptions of the original recordings. Traditional practice techniques will not overcome difficulties managing tenths and wide left hand leaps at rapid tempos. For me, mastering Handful of Keys is a bigger challenge than any 19th century classical selection I've attempted. The richness of the rhythmic and harmonic textures is well worth the effort of learning this important music. For a future project I would like to see a transcription of Sweet Savannah Sue.
7 of 14 people found this review helpful.
Ted Jones
Location: from New Zealand
Difficulty Level:
Advanced
May 12, 2003
Very rewarding music
This volume is excellent. It does for Waller what Dapogny has done for Morton. The buyer should be aware that Waller had a large hand, and the use of straight tenths, often with middle notes, is essential to the flavour of parts of the music. Also, having the notes does not make Waller's superb rhythm and phrasing any easier to master. The fingerings which best produce it will not normally be those a classical pianist would apply. I look forward to many happy hours once I have learned these masterly pieces.
8 of 13 people found this review helpful.
A reviewer
Location: from Midwest
Difficulty Level:
Advanced
April 15, 2001
Nice collection
These are good, accurate transcriptions, definitely worth buying for anyone interested in Waller or stride piano (I hope there will be similar books of other jazz and blues pianists' work--there are a few out there, but I still have a pretty LONG list I'd like to see!).
5 of 11 people found this review helpful.
Nick
Location: from Martinique
Difficulty Level:
Intermediate/advanced
January 28, 2001
Really good!
Nothin' to add.It's clearly nice,and very interesting for student in stride piano. You would be satisfied.
8 of 13 people found this review helpful.