Jeff Barnhart is an in-demand solo performer, sideman, bandleader and festival musical director with a well-deserved, international fan base. Besides sharing a bandstand with this writer on many occasions, we also share a passion for the music of Fats Waller.
Jeff performs Waller’s music on a regular basis and has resurrected some extremely rare Waller compositions from the early 1920s. One of them is “Please Tell Me Why?” which was recorded only once (in 1924). Another, “Every Sweetie That I Get,” was literally reconstructed by Jeff (adding appropriate chords to an existing melody and lyric sheet found in the Library of Congress). Jeff also made the first and only recording of that particular song.
Currently, Jeff leads the Fats Waller Legacy Band (available with either American or European musicians). The FWLB performs the rarities mentioned above, in addition to songs associated with Waller throughout his career and even some Waller-inspired original compositions.
I have been a Fats Waller fan since my exposure to the RCA Vintage Series “Valentine Stomp” album in the late 1960s. Almost 30 years later, I was able to record an album of seldom-heard Waller compositions for Jazzology with the “Rhythmakers,” featuring the wonderful vocalist Rebecca Kilgore. More recently I have b
