The third Fats Waller composition in a row completes a mini-suite of stride-era material, and this time the tempo rockets to 303 BPM — the fastest performance of the entire concert. Cohen delivers four choruses over the 32-bar AABA form at breakneck speed as a solo piano feature, with no other soloists cataloged. The blistering tempo transforms Waller's charming 1929 standard into a virtuosic showcase, demonstrating that stride piano technique can be every bit as demanding as modern jazz vocabulary. Waller composed Honeysuckle Rose with Andy Razaf, and it became one of the most widely played jazz standards of the 20th century, recorded by everyone from Django Reinhardt to Lester Young. The three-tune Waller block that opens this concert — from solo stride to funky duo to this high-speed romp — provides a complete survey of how one tradition can be reinterpreted before Lovano arrives for his first feature on Bird's Eye View.
