(2-CD set) An Essential Collection is not essential until the fat man plays the piano! So here is Fats Waller caught at the height of his powers between 1927 and 1942 sounding as fresh today as he did when he laid these tracks down all those years ago. Until 1934, Fats' recording career was a little spasmodic. We can witness some great early stride piano work here, but it was in 1934 when Victor gave him a recording contract that his most famous work began. We feature many of these great tracks here, as James P. Johnson said, "Some people have music in them, but Fats was all music." We'll drink to that, enjoy the fat man playing!