If you’ve never had access to a collection of Fats Waller’s work, both as a solo pianist and as the leader of his little sextet the ‘Rhythm’ (as well as an occasional big band built out of that group) this collection from Acrobat is a good place to start. Although its use of Joel Whitburn’s hypothetical ‘chart’ positions informs much of the selection, thereby missing some of the musically more interesting (if less popular) tracks, it still gives us the opportunity to trace the evolution of Fats’ band, from its early days, including the racially mixed line-up with Mezz Mezzrow and Floyd O’Brien, to the long-term partnership of trumpeter Herman Autrey and reed player Gene Sedric.

We also get chances to hear short-term replacements, such as the wonderful trumpeter Bill Coleman, and the urgent, throaty clarinet sound of Rudy Powell. Sadly, there’s no track by the ‘West Coast Rhythm’ led by trumpeter Paul Campbell, with bassist Al Morgan and drummer Lee Young, and no example of Fats’ ‘Continental Rhythm’ recorded on his 1938 visit to London. That aside, this is still a very good introductory selection.

A few caveats, though. The liner notes needed a proof-read and a check. Three paragraphs are cut and pasted from the Mildred Bailey collection also reviewed in this edition of Jazzwise, and both a solo piano selection, and the ‘Jam Session at RCA’ band are credited (incorrectly) to Fats Waller and His Rhythm. And the remastering is less than brilliant.

A typical example is a twangy overtone in the 1934 version of ‘Honeysuckle Rose’ that is distracting, and compares badly with RCA’s own Early Years box set, issued in 1995, which almost eliminates this nasty sound, as does the equally well-balanced version on the JSP Complete Recordings Vol. 2 set, engineered by John RT Davies and Ted Kendall. But if you can put up with less than perfect mastering, and don't rely too heavily on notes drawn from the internet, the music here will give you a head start in the marvellous legacy of Mr Waller.