Fats Waller

Fats Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an African-American jazz pianist, organist, composer and comedic entertainer. He was born Thomas Wright Waller in New York City to a Baptist minister father. The Waller family migrated to Harlem from Virginia. Fats' grandfather, Adolph Waller was an accomplished violinist.

Waller started his musical career at an early age. He studied classical piano and organ as a child, taught largely by the music director of his Baptist church, who insisted he also learn the organ works of J. S. Bach. As a young adult, Waller took regular piano lessons from legendary Harlem stride pianist James P. Johnson. He also benefited from legendary stride pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith, who gave Fats the nickname "Filthy".

Johnson introduced Waller to the world of rent parties (a party with a piano player, designed to help pay the rent by charging the guests), and soon he developed a performing career.

He was an excellent pianist -- now usually considered one of the very best who ever played in the stride style. Many believe that his songwriting and his lovable, roguish stage personality often overshadowed his playing. Before his solo career, he played with many performers, from Erskine Tate to Bessie Smith, but his greatest success came with his own five- or six-piece combo, "Fats Waller and his Rhythm". Fats Waller was such an impressive and talented pianist that he came to the attention of the rich and famous - sometimes whether he wanted to or not. Fats Waller was in Chicago in 1926 and, upon leaving the building where he was performing, Waller was kidnapped by four men, who bundled him into a car and drove off. The car later pulled up outside the Hawthorne Inn, owned by infamous gangster Al Capone. Fats was ordered inside the building, to find a party in full swing. With a gun against his back, Waller was pushed towards a piano, whereupon the gangsters demanded he start playing. A terrified Waller suddenly realised he was the "surprise guest" at Al Capone's birthday party. Soon comforted by the fact that he wouldn't die, Waller played, according to rumor, for three days. When he left the Hawthorne Inn, he was very drunk, extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars in cash given to him by Capone himself and by party-goers as tips.

Among his songs are "Squeeze Me" 1919, "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now", "Ain't Misbehavin'" 1929, "Blue Turning Grey Over You" 1930, "Honeysuckle Rose" 1929, piano cutting piece, "Handful of Keys", "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling" 1929, and "Jitterbug Waltz" 1942.

He collaborated with the Tin Pan Alley lyricist Andy Razaf and had a commercially successful career, which according to some music critics eclipsed his great musical talent. His nickname came about because he weighed nearly 300 pounds (136 kg). His weight and drinking are believed to have contributed to his death.

Waller also made a successful tour of the British Isles in the late 1930's, and appeared in one of the earliest BBC Television broadcasts. While in Britain, Waller also recorded a number of songs for EMI on their Compton Theatre organ located in their Studios in St John's Wood, London. He also appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably "Stormy Weather" in 1943, which was released only months before his death.

With Razaf he wrote "What Did I Do (To Be So Black and Blue)?" 1929 which became a hit for Louis Armstrong. This song, a searing treatment of racism, black and white, calls into question the accusations of "shallow entertainment" levelled at both Armstrong and Waller.

On December 15, 1943, at age 39, Waller died of pneumonia aboard an eastbound train in the vicinity of Kansas City, Missouri, following a west coast engagement.

Though Waller could read and write music well (from his classical keyboard studies as a child) and would even, on occasion, perform organ works of Bach for small groups, his brilliant improvisations have had to be transcribed from old recordings and radio broadcasts. The pianist and keyboard professor Paul Posnak has recently produced transcriptions of 16 of Waller's greatest solos, published by Hal Leonard, and himself performs these in concerts worldwide. In 1978 a broadway musical entitled Ain't Misbehavin' was produced. Performed by five African American actors, it showcased the works of Waller in the style of a musical revue and included such songs as "Honeysuckle Rose", "The Joint is Jumpin'", and "Ain't Misbehavin'". The show opened at the Longacre Theatre and ran for over 1600 performances.

Some of Waller's favorite quips: "One never knows, do one?" "Mercy!" "Well all right then!" "I wonder what the poor people are doing...I'd love to be with them!" "Run into and stab me, but don't bruise me!"