day 26: a song you like that relies heavily on piano.

Fats Waller - Ain’t Misbehavin’

ok. here’s the thing. i love fats waller. when i was young, my parents took me to a lot of musical theater and we saw a touring production of ‘ain’t misbehavin’,’ which is made up entirely of fats waller songs, his trademark ‘stride piano’ sound. i could not believe how amazing it was, promptly bought the cast recording (featuring NELL CARTER) and listened to it about a bazillion times - even the song about “the viper” who dreams of a reefer 5 feet long. it’s a fantastic show. it’s got lots of good yearning love songs (‘mean to me,’ ‘squeeze me’) and is also a fun snapshot of the time period and the war effort (‘when the nylons bloom again’). and then at the end, ‘black and blue’ is one of the most beautiful songs about experiencing racism. 

(Source: youtube.com)