Panic Is On, The

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True to the label's profile, Le Chant du Monde's The Panic Is On is an intelligently constructed collection of 50 well-chosen recordings that are guaranteed to convey the essence of Thomas "Fats" Waller's life and legacy. Apart from the exacting session-by-session reissues (by Bluebird, Classics, and JSP) this is a mode of presentation that is seldom encountered in Waller's posthumous digital discography. The music traces intricate patterns over a chronological course encompassing some 20 years. First, the spirit of young Waller is mechanically conjured through the medium of a perforated paper roll spooling away within the body of a "driverless" player piano. He is then heard as the very first jazz organist, operating a pneumatic church organ as a syncopating soloist and as member of two decidedly unusual jazz bands -- Thomas Morris' Hot Babies and the Louisiana Sugar Babes. There is also a rowdy take of W.C. Handy's "Yellow Dog Blues" recorded in 1932 with an all-star group calling themselves "the Rhythmakers". Waller's unaccompanied piano surfaces from time to time amid numerous examples of his work as leader of his little Rhythm band and his augmented "Rhythm & Orchestra." The incendiary "Pent Up in a Penthouse" is attributed to Waller's "Continental Rhythm," an ensemble composed mainly of British musicians. Most vocals are by Waller, with additional support from Billy Banks ("Yellow Dog Blues"), Una Mae Carlisle ("I Can't Give You Anything But Love"), and the Deep River Boys ("Romance a la Mode"). The chronological layout of this unusually wide-ranging collection allows the listener to comprehend how this artist developed as an improviser, popular recording personality, and star of stage and screen before pneumonia and fast living took him out at the age of 39. ~ arwulf arwulf