=| IMS

j-m-schmidt associates

architegts and consulting engineers,

vancouver - richmond, bo cs

Above is the preliminary sketch of the proposed Rich-
mond Centennial Project—a Municipal Cultural Centre
with Library in the foreground, Art Centre in the back-
round and Municipal Theatre at the far end of the

proposed Complex. The entire project will be set ina
park-like development, enhanced with reflecting pools
and sculpture. Designers are J. M. Schmidt & Associ-
ates of Richmond.

Ochs helps send

aid to Vietnam

urrently touring England,

Phil Ochs, American pro-
test singer, performed in London
in a concert, sponsored by
Challenge, weekly paper of the
Young Communist League, to
raise money for medical aid to
Vietnam,

Ochs was described at the con-
cert as the “president of the pro-
test song movement.” Other per-
formers included a British
modern jazz quartet, folk singers
Frankie Armstrong, John Faulk-
ner and Jennie Short,

Actress Vanessa Redgrave
made an appeal and TV star
Alfie Bass presented a cheque
for one hundred ‘pounds ($280)
to Mrs. Renee Short, MP, for
medical aid to Vietnam,

Ochs now has three long play
records to his credit, which can
be obtained in progressive book-

stores and music shops across
Canada, Ochs’ “All The News
That’s Fit To Sing® is on an
Electra label, EKL269,

Phil Ochs

Genius of Fats Waller on new record

FATS WALLER, 1934-35. An RCA Victor record. Fats Waller, piano
and vocal with trumpet, clarinet, sax, guitar, trombone, bass and drums.
Tricludes many of his best-loved renditions: Somebody Stole My Gal, I Ain’t
Got .Nobody, Dinah, Dust Off That Old Pianna, 12th Street Rag, and
others. Available upon request at Co-op Books Store, 341 W. Pender St.,

_ Vancouver.

his record features Fats

Waller recordings from the
years 1934-35 except for three
Piano solos recorded in 1927 and
1929,

I have an idea that many people

_ are unfamiliar with the genius of

Fats Waller, Following is a sug-
Sestion of his life and stature.

Thomas (Fats) Waller was born
in Harlem in May, 1904, His
father, Edward Waller, was once
Pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist
Church,

He began playing piano early,
influenced in part by the ragtime
Piano styles of the day. He also
learned the organ and for a time
was the organist in his father’s
church,

Waller received formal train-
ing in music as his talents be-
Came evident. One of his first

professional jobs was organist
for silent movies,

' Credit for Waller’s pianotech-
Nique must surely go to the late

James P, Johnson, one of the

' greatest of jazz pianists. John-
Son was the best of a host of
Superb Harlem pianists who syn-
thesized the then up and coming
jazz and blues styles with rag-
time.

They created a school of piano
playing which is highly creative
and technical. An example of it
would be “Blue Black Bottom”
heard on the record. To put it
mildly, Fats mastered the style.

Once this was done, Waller’s
career moved. The ’20’s were
active times. for musicians and
those among the best hada fol-
lowing. Fame first came to Fats
as a composer (examples are
Honeysuckle Rose, Ain’t Mis-

behavin’ and Squeeze Me.)

It was not until about 1933
when he began adding vocals to
his records that his fame spread,

When Waller received inconse-
quential lyrics he would make
fun of them. This light-hearted
attitude coupled with his musical
talents make most of his hun-
dreds of records a joy to hear.

The pace of Waller’s career
through the 20’s, 30’s and early
40’s and excess weight resulted
in his death on a train near
Kansas Ciy in December, 1943.

Waller’s fame as a composer,
jazz pianist, organist, and enter-
tainer has not diminished since
those years. This album should
explain why.

War Toys

This is the season once again,

Of Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men.

Yet underneath the Christmas tree,
Beneath the star, high shining, free,

The war toys lie in grim array.

Here Death is decked with wrappings gay.
Premiers, Presidents and lesser men,
Will mouth the platitudes, and then

Go home, get drunk, and Peace on Earth
Will pale, amidst the brighter birth

of Napalm dimming out the star,...
There in the fields of hellish war

Hate, Death and Fear the carols sing
Among the corpses mouldering,

And children of past Christmases will rest,
Clutching their bloody war toys to their breast.

—Anne Royle -

His genius as an entertainer
and pianist are clear but I would
hope a future album would show-

case his other side—that of the:

serious jazz musician and or-
ganist. Some commentary ought
to be devoted to this side of
Fats Waller,

First, he was a victim of the
widespread notion that fat men
are always funny,

His long-time friend, Gene
Sedric, remarked, “Nobody who
was a personal fan of Waller ever
forgot his playing, but very few
got a chance really to hear the

finer things he could do on the

piano,

“Through his recordings and
picture success, the public went
for his jive and singing, which to
the public really overshadowed
his ability as one of the world’s
greatest swing pianists,

“Many times we would be on
the job and Waller playing great
piano, modern stuff with tech-
nique and fine chords, and people
would say, ‘Come on Fats, you’re
laying down, give us some jive,’

“This at times would be agreat
drag to him; he would look at us
and say, ‘You see these people,
they won’t let me play anything
real fine, want to hear all that
jive!’

“But it was the jive instead of
fine playing that made him a
wealthy man. He was a great
comedian, but his only love was
music,
practice, I personally believe he
would have been much happier
had his jive not overshadowed
his great musical ability.”

* * *

Second, Waller was a victimof
a racist society, As John Ham-
mond, now with Columbia Rec-
ords, wrote in his program notes
for Waller’s Carnegie Hall con-
cert in January, 1942, “America
does strange things to its great
artists, In any other place in the
world Thomas Waller might have
developed into a famous concert
performer, for when he was 11
he was a gifted organist, pianist
and composer.

“But Waller was not white,
and the American concert field

He loved to study and

makes racial exceptions only for
a few singers, Waller’s great
talent for the piano has never
received the acknowledgment it
deserves in this country, It was
easier to exploit him asa buffoon
and clown than as the great artist
he is.”

This record of Waller is sup-
posed to be a prelude toaseries,
I hope that the producer of the

album, pianist Mike Lipskin, will
display Fats’ talents as an or-
ganist, In the Victor vaults exist
most of-the commercially re-
corded organ works by Waller,

For those who cannot wait,
some of these gems are avail-
able on Victor in England in an
album called*Fats atthe Organ?
a thoroughly delightful album,

—Stark Jeffrey

Fats Waller

Love and Friendship

-Love is like the wild rose-brier,
Friendship like the holly tree ——
The holly is dark when the rose-brier blooms
But which will bloom most constantly?

The wild-rose briar is sweet in spring,
Its summer blossoms scent the air;
Yet wait till winter comes again
And who will call the wild-briar fair?

Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now
And deck thee with the holly’s sheen,
That when December blights thy brow
He still may leave thy garland green,

—Emily Bronte (1818 1848)