Ain't Misbehavin is an album by pianist Hank Jones featuring tunes associated with Fats Waller recorded in 1978 for the Galaxy label and released in 1985.Hank Jones Catalog accessed August 5, 2015Galaxy Album Discography, accessed August 5, 2015
Reception
Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars, stating: "When this set (reissued on CD) was recorded, Hank Jones was the pianist in the Broadway show Ain't Misbehavin', a revue that celebrated Fats Waller's music. Jones never sounded like Waller, being a swing-to-bop transition player rather than a stride pianist, and he makes no effort to copy Fats during this brief program. ...Swinging if not particularly memorable music".
DownBeat assigned the album 4 stars. Reviewer Jon Balleras wrote that the album is "Jones’ tribute to one of his first and most formative influences, Fats Waller. Recorded while Jones served as pianist/conductor of the identically titled Broadway musical celebrating Waller’s life, Jones sympathetically and flexibly evokes Waller’s piano style in this small group setting. Although Jones' playing is far more melodically and harmonically intricate . . . Jones’ perception of Waller’s sense of the comic and, above all, of Waller’s rhythmic joie de vivre is complete and compelling".
Track listing "Ain't Misbehavin'" (Fats Waller, Harry Brooks, Andy Razaf) - 6:38 "Lounging at the Waldorf" (Waller) - 6:20 "Mean to Me" (Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk) - 5:41 "The Joint is Jumpin'" (Waller, Razaf, J. C. Johnson) - 4:28 "Honeysuckle Rose" (Waller, Razaf) - 6:04 "Squeeze Me" (Waller, Clarence Williams) - 8:27
Personnel Hank Jones - piano Richard Davis - double bass Roy Haynes - drums Bob Ojeda - trumpet (tracks 1, 3 & 5) Teddy Edwards - tenor saxophone (tracks 1, 3 & 5) Kenny Burrell - guitar (tracks 1, 3 & 5)
References