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Late in 1932 Fats Waller hired Phil Ponce as manager. Ponce promptly negotiated a contract with WLW, a powerful Cincinnati radio station which was heard throughout the Midwest. His show, "Fats Waller's Rhythm Club", was an instant success. When the WLW contract concluded in early 1934, Waller returned to New York where he broadcast the "Rhythm Club" show over the CBS network to a still larger audience.

For most of a decade Victor's leading jazz artist had been Jelly Roll Morton and the various incarnations of his Red Hot Peppers, but Victor eventually declined to renew Morton's contract as lagging sales reflected changes in the public taste. Victor needed a bankable star to replace Morton as the label's featured jazz artist. Waller's success on CBS convinced Victor to sign him to his first recording contract; Waller decided upon a six-piece band format. Maintaining the association with the "Rhythm Club" name, Waller and Ponce christened the band "Fats Waller and His Rhythm". Between 1934 and 1942 the group recorded about 400 sides, well over half of Waller's lifetime recorded output. Material ranged from downright lamentable to outstanding and Waller's treatment of it ranged from brusque to brilliant.

The "Rhythm" was primarily a studio band, and recording dates had to be worked into the musicians' different schedules. Waller's genius carried the band, enabling them to record as many as ten sides in a single day, often consisting mainly of new material. Rarely did band members know in advance which tunes they would be recording! It is a testament to the collective musical talent of the group that they managed so well without rehearsal. This chaotic approach succeeded in part because of consistency in core personnel which included Waller, Autrey, Sedric and Casey. The chaos no doubt contributed to the spontaneity which characterizes many of the Rhythm's recordings.

Many critics consider that the band's best work was issued in 1935 and 1936, and many of these releases were million- sellers. In February, 1938 Victor extended Waller's contract through May, 1944. It should be noted that Waller's recording contract was not exclusive and that during this period he also recorded for Commodore. Victor issued some of the Rhythm sides on their Bluebird label. The last session with Fats Waller and his Rhythm took place on July 13, 1942 in Victor's New York studios.

So, as Fats himself might say of these recordings, "My, My, My! Now here 'tis; Latch On!"

A special thanks to Owen Miller and James Gallup for their help with the recordings on this page.