Fats Waller, music · Introduced by Fats Waller and His Rhythm, RCA Victor, 1942
Jitterbug Waltz
Fats Waller recorded this waltz in 1942, playing the Hammond organ himself. The melody grew from piano exercises Waller's son Maurice was playing, and Maurice calls it the first jazz waltz. Hear it from Waller, Jimmy Smith, Michel Legrand, Eric Dolphy, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Anat Cohen.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Waller's 1942 record, then follows the tune through an organ trio, a big-band arrangement, a piano trio and Eric Dolphy's quintet. It ends with Rahsaan Roland Kirk live, Oscar Peterson's trio in London and Anat Cohen's 2008 quartet.
“The Jitterbug Waltz”, If You Got to Ask, You Ain't Got It!
Fats Waller recorded it for Victor in New York on March 16, 1942, playing the Hammond organ and directing a full band. JazzStandards.com lists that date as the song's introduction.
3/4
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Listen for
Listen for the organ playing the tune with only a few guitar strums and brushed drums behind it. The clarinet takes the melody next, and the rest of the band joins in the third as the music builds gently.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight in waltz time, counting one-two-three: for four bars, then for four bars, with the melody on top. Smaller version: play only the four bars of E♭maj7 and hum the tune.
“The Jitterbug Waltz”, Jimmy Smith at the Organ: Plays Pretty Just for You
Jimmy Smith recorded it at Manhattan Towers in New York on May 8, 1957, with guitar and drums. Blue Note put it on the album Plays Pretty Just for You and on a 1959 single.
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Listen for
Listen for the organ carrying the tune with guitar and drums behind it. This is a three-piece group.
Try it on your instrument
Play the second half of the A part, 9 to 16: for four bars, then , , Gm7, C7, one to the bar. Smaller version: play only the Gm7 and C7 bars and hum the tune.
Michel Legrand arranged and conducted it for his album Legrand Jazz, recorded on June 25, 1958. Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Bill Evans are in the band.
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Listen for
Listen for the unusual mix of instruments: harp and vibraphone alongside flute, saxophones and trumpet, all in an arrangement by Michel Legrand.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight of the B part: for four bars, for two bars, then for two bars ( will do). Smaller version: play only the four bars of F7 and hum the tune over them.
Junior Mance recorded it with Ron Carter and Mickey Roker at Plaza Sound Studios in New York on June 20, 1962. It is the second track on his Jazzland album Happy Time, produced by Orrin Keepnews.
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Listen for
Listen for the piano leading, with bass and drums keeping time behind it. The record runs just over five minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the last eight of the B part: for two bars, for two bars, then , , , B♭7, one to the bar. Smaller version: play only the F7 and B♭7 bars.
Eric Dolphy recorded it in New York on July 1 and 3, 1963, with Woody Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson, Eddie Khan and J.C. Moses. It first came out on the FM label's album Conversations.
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Listen for
Listen for Dolphy's flute and Bobby Hutcherson's vibraphone alongside Woody Shaw's trumpet. The record runs more than seven minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole A part once as plain in waltz time, then again with each chord's notes played one at a time. Smaller version: play only the first eight bars, then .
Rahsaan Roland Kirk played it live at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco on June 8 and 9, 1973. It is on the double album Bright Moments, which Atlantic issued in 1974.
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Listen for
Listen for Kirk's horns with a full and extra percussion behind him. The album has a short spoken piece about Fats Waller on the track just before this one.
Try it on your instrument
Play the four closing of the tune: , , E♭6, , one to the bar, then land on E♭6. Smaller version: play only E♭6 and B♭7.
Oscar Peterson's trio played it live at the Royal Festival Hall in London on October 21, 1978, with John Heard on bass and Louis Bellson on drums. Pablo released the concert as The London Concert in 1979.
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Listen for
Listen for the piano out front with bass and drums behind it, recorded live in front of an audience.
Try it on your instrument
Play the full A part slowly at three beats to the bar: for four bars, for four bars, E♭maj7 for four bars, then , , Gm7, C7. Smaller version: play only the first eight bars.
Anat Cohen recorded it at Avatar Studios in New York on May 14 and 15, 2008, for her album Notes from the Village. It is the eighth track and runs just over nine minutes.
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Listen for
Listen for how long the group stays with the tune. At just over nine minutes it is the longest record on this path.
Try it on your instrument
Count the form out loud while you play it as : the A part, the 16-bar B part, then both again, 64 bars of three beats in all. Smaller version: play A and B once, 32 bars.
Fats Waller records it for Victor in New York on March 16, 1942, playing the Hammond organ and directing a full band.
1950s
Jimmy Smith's organ trio records it for Blue Note in 1957. Michel Legrand arranges it the next year for a band that includes Miles Davis.
1960s
Junior Mance records it with a piano trio in 1962 and Eric Dolphy with a quintet in 1963. Les McCann and the Jazz Crusaders record it in late 1963 for their album Jazz Waltz.
1970s
Rahsaan Roland Kirk plays it live at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco in 1973, and Oscar Peterson's trio plays it in London in 1978. Arthur Blythe puts it first on his Columbia debut.
2000s
The Chick Corea New Trio records it in Los Angeles in 2000. Anat Cohen's quartet gives it more than nine minutes on Notes from the Village in 2008.
More great versions
4 more, from 1963 to 2000. Tap a cover to play it here.
1960sLes McCann and the Jazz Crusaders1963 · Soul jazz
Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy1964 · Hard bop
Charles Mingus's sextet with Eric Dolphy played it at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, on March 18, 1964. Blue Note issued the concert in 2007 as Cornell 1964.
Arthur Blythe opens In the Tradition, his first album for Columbia, with this tune. It was recorded in New York City in 1978 with Stanley Cowell, Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall.
Chick Corea's New Trio recorded it in Los Angeles in 2000, with Avishai Cohen on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums. It is on the Stretch album Past, Present & Futures, released in 2001.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
E♭ majorusual key
64 barsA · B · A · B form
E♭ majorkey centers
A16 bars
B16 bars
A16 bars
B16 bars
E♭
Sixty-four , three beats to the bar, all in E♭. A is 16 bars: for four bars, for four, E♭maj7 for four, then , , Gm7, C7, one to the bar. B is 16 bars: for four bars, for two, for two, F7 for two, for two, then Gm7, C7, , B♭7, which lead back to the top. The second time through, the last four bars of B change to , A♭7, E♭6, B♭7 to close the tune. These chords follow the iReal Pro chart; other lead sheets may spell some chords differently.