Cyberassault threatens U.S. health care system, FBI warns, Jack Nicklaus tweets endorsement of Trump, Sen. Loeffler 'not familiar' with Access Hollywood tape, Colbert shocked by Trump ads during 'Late Show', Cowboys owner blames weight for kneeling player's release, Philadelphia police discover van loaded with explosives, Why 10,000 Burger King drive-thrus are going digital, Former Miss America Leanza Cornett dies at 49, AOC looks back on her transition to Washington. “[Waller] conveyed sly humor with rolling piano triplets, bright rips up the keyboard’s top octaves, and amply buoyant rhythm.” With a popularity that rivaled famed trumpet player Louis Armstrong’s, Waller performed regularly on radio and toured throughout the U.S. and abroad before record crowds. Fats Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an African-American jazz pianist, organist, composer and comedic entertainer. Down Beat, November 2, 1978; March 1988; April 1990. Waller’s father may have wished his son would follow in his footsteps, but by the age of 15, Fats Waller was already working as a professional organist at the Lincoln Theater. Contemporary Black Biography. He scored his final hit as a recording artist in November 1942 with his own organ instrumental “The Jitterbug Waltz,” which reached the Top Ten on the R&B charts. Short Biography. ." Selected discocraphy. However, Waller and Hatchett separated and divorced within a few years. Selected discography Parlor Piano Solos, Volume I: Piano Rolls, 1923-24, Volume 2: 1924-31, Volume 3, Biograph. Johnson was a well-known pianist famous for his stride tickler style of piano playing. Friedman Cali guitar vs. Music Man Sabre? Also in October, he had a minor hit with his own composition “How Can You Face Me?” [lyrics by Andy Razaf]. . Last Testament: His Final Recordings, 1943. Encyclopedia.com. Classic Jazz From Rare Piano Rolls (recorded 1923-27), Biograph, 1989. He accompanied Florence Hills and Bessie Smith, both well-known singers. ." ." During the show's heyday from 1948 to 1960, it helped launch the careers of some of the greatest names in American country and western music. Waller also recorded on occasion as a sideman in jazz combos like Morris’s Hot Babes and McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, as well as heading his own small ensembles. He was a widely respected jazz instrumentalist on piano and organ; he composed music for three Broadway shows and many hit songs, among them “Ain’t Misbehaving” “Honeysuckle Rose,” and “Black and Blue”; he was among the most successful recording artists of the 1930s, scoring 23 Top Ten hits between 1934 and 1940, including “A Little Bit Independent,” “All My Life,” “Two Sleepy People,” and “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter”; and his engaging, humorous personality was displayed onstage, on film, and in concerts. Fats Waller didn’t die half a year before his 40th birthday from the stress of stifling his serious side. Fats Waller died, Today in Music History: John Lennon played his final gig in the U.K., Fats Waller died of pneumonia, The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour went Gold, Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick In The Wall' made it to No. Waller attended Public School 89 in Harlem where he quickly became involved in the school’s music program. They lived quietly and happily for a little while until Waller was offered a position with a vaudeville group called “Liza and Her Shufflin’ Six.” He went on tour with them—very successfully—and it was while he was on tour that he met Bill “Count” Basie. Therefore, it’s best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publication’s requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html, Fats Waller has been called one of the most entertaining and vivacious singers, composers, and pianists in jazz history. But because “white America preferred its jazzmen to be Falstaffs rather than… Hamlets,” suggested Jack Kroll in Newsweek, “Waller … was granted a certain measure of success because he agreed to emphasize his real gift for comedy and buffoonery, letting the jazz fall where it might.”, Becoming an international star performing popular songs and satiric tunes like “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” and “Your Feet’s Too Big,” the 300-pound Waller cultivated an exuberant stage persona that audiences heartily embraced. In 1928 Waller and lyricist Andy Razaf wrote much of the music for the all-black Broadway musical Keep Shufflin’. Waller recorded prolifically from 1922 until his death in 1943, principally for Victor, beginning in 1926. Contemporary Black Biography. This was complicated by his drinking and smoking, which later turned the flu into pneumonia. His mother Adeline Locket Waller was a music teacher and church organist. The Broadway revue Bubbling Brown Sugar (N.Y., March 2, 1976) used some Waller music, and a second revue, Ain’t Misbehavin’ (N.Y, May 8, 1978), was devoted to his songs; it ran 1,604 performances and that spawned a charted cast album. Contemporary Musicians. According to GetMusic.com it was around this time that he met one of his most beneficial teachers, James P. Johnson. With the onset of the Swing Era in the second half of the 1930s, Waller’s music became less fashionable, but he still was able to reach the hit parade at least once a year through the end of the decade, with “You’re Laughing at Me” (music and lyrics by Irving Berlin) in March 1937; “I Love to Whistle” (music by Jimmy McHugh, lyrics by Harold Adamson) in April 1938; “Two Sleepy People” (music by Hoagy Carmichael, lyrics by Frank Loesser) in November 1938; “Good for Nothing” (music by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics by Eddie DeLange) in March 1939; and “Little Curly in a High Chair” (music by Nat Simon, lyrics by Charles Tobias) in June 1940. Pianist and composer At the age of six he began to play the reed organ; by ten he was performing in school concerts and before his father’s congregation. Quick Facts Name Fats Waller Birth Date May 21, 1904 Death Date December 15, 1943 Did You Know?