1958 · Album
André Previn Plays Fats Waller
Recorded 1958 · Contemporary Records · Produced by Lester Koenig
Piano Alone With Waller's Wit
Previn's touch here is clean and swinging, letting Waller's tunes breathe without arrangement clutter.
André Previn came to this session as a pianist first, not yet the conductor he would become. The choice to play Fats Waller's catalog solo—no rhythm section, no horns, just piano—stripped the music down to its essential craft. Waller wrote songs that could survive bare-bones treatment because they had melody, humor, and harmonic meat. Previn understood this. His interpretations don't try to reinvent the songs or prove anything; they simply play them as a skilled pianist who respects the source material.
This is early-career Previn, when his identity was still forming across three different worlds—Hollywood, jazz, and classical concert music. The solo piano format let him show off his technique without leaning on any single identity. You hear a musician working through standards, finding his voice in the spaces between notes. The record is lean and direct, which suits Waller's style perfectly. Waller was never precious, and neither is Previn here.
It's not a deep dive into Previn's later strengths as a bandleader or interpreter of singers. It's simply a pianist spending time with Waller's tunes, making them his own through clean playing and a genuine swing feel. For anyone curious about what Previn sounded like before he became famous, this is essential listening.
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André Previnpiano
