Fats Waller London Suites 1938-1939

Leonard Feather had approached EMI with a suggestion
that Fats Waller should record with a pick-up group 
of British musicians, and that session took place at 
H.M.V.'s Abbey Road studios on a Sunday afternoon, 
21 August. Some of the musicians really went out of their 
way to be present. The West Tndia-n trumpeter, Dave 
Wilkins, travelled down from Glasgow and immediately 
after the session hurried off to Liverpool, where he was due 
to work with Ken Johnson's orchestra, while 
the trombonist, George Chisholm, became probably the 
first musician ever to interrupt a honeymoon for a 
recording date; he flew over from Jersey on the Sunday, then 
flew back again the following morning. Also taking part 
were Alfie Kahn, playing tenor-sax and clarinet; Ian 
Shepherd, a Scottish musician who doubled on violin and 
tenor-sax; yet another Scot, the guitarist Alan Ferguson; 
Len Harrison on bass; and behind the drums a West Indian 
who in those days performed regularly at the Nest Club 
Edmundo Ros. Six sides were recorded by the band: 
Don't Try Your Jive On Me (a Leonard Feather 
composition), Ain't Misbehaving Flat Foot Floogie, Pent Up In 
A Penthouse, Music Maestro Please and A-Tisket, A-Tasket. 
In addition Waller played some solos, nearly all of them of 
Negro spirituals, on H.M.V.'s Compton organ, and used the 
same instrument to accompany the singer, Adelaide Hall, 
in That Old Feeling, and I Can't Give You Anything But 
Love. 

Adelaide Hall, although she was now living in Britain, 
had been a member of the Blackbirds show and had 
recorded with the Duke Ellington orchestra. She had also 
been responsible for bringing Art Tatum to New York 
as her accompanist at a time when that pianist was 
completely unknown. 

from Kings of Jazz: Fats Waller by Charles Fox


TRACKS
1 The Flat Foot Floogie (Gaillard, Green, Stewart)
2 You Can't Have Your Cake and Eat It (Waller)
3 Ain't Misbehavin' (Brooks, Razaf, Waller)
4 Tisket, A-Tasket (Alexander, Fitzgerald)
5 Smoke Dreams of You (Brown, Freed)
6 All God's Chillun Got Wings (traditional)
7 The London Suite: Picadilly (Waller)
8 The London Suite: Chelsea (Waller)
9 The London Suite: Soho (Waller)
10 The London Suite: Bond Street (Waller)
11 The London Suite: Limehouse (Waller)
12 The London Suite: Whitechapel (Waller)
13 That Old Feeling (vocal: Adelaide Hall) (Brown, Fain)
14 I Can't Give You Anything But Love (vocal: Adelaide Hall) (Fields, McHugh)
15 Not There – Right There (Waller)
16 Go Down, Moses (traditional)
17 Cottage in the Rain (Waller)
18 Don't Try Your Jive on Me (Feather, Sampson)
19 Music, Maestro, Please! (Magidson, Wrubel)
20 Pent Up in a Penthouse (Connor, Williams 
21 Lonesome Road (Austin, Shilkret)
22 Deep River (traditional)
23 Water Boy (traditional)