Pianist and composer Jason Moran had been experimenting with his project called Fats Waller Dance Party for a couple of years before entering the studio to cut his fine new album All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller (Blue Note), performing it all over the globe (including twice in Chicago) with a relatively steady cast of collaborators. The subject of his homage—the idiosyncratic composer, singer, and pianist Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller—was a shape-shifting entertainer of the highest rank whose individual talents were always secondary to his ability to engage a crowd and get them moving, and Moran treats that knack as sacrosanct in this effort, transforming standards like “Honeysuckle Rose” and “The Joint Is Jumpin’” with strong doses of modern R&B and hip-hop. The primary drummer for the project is Charles Haynes, a session pro who’s worked of late with Kanye West and Lady Gaga, while the album was mixed for maximum punch by Bob Power, a vet of records by the Roots and A Tribe Called Quest.
Today’s playlist:
