{"id":26015,"date":"2013-12-14T22:03:46","date_gmt":"2013-12-15T03:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/harlemcondolife.com\/?p=26015"},"modified":"2013-12-14T22:09:06","modified_gmt":"2013-12-15T03:09:06","slug":"sunday-jazz-corner-fats-waller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/harlemcondolife.com\/?p=26015","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Jazz Corner With Fats Waller"},"content":{"rendered":"

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King of the stride, Fats Waller was a colorful comedic personality and jazz legend in the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. \u00a0Waller was an influential pianist, composer, singer and comedic entertainer, whose innovations to the Harlem stride style laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano. \u00a0His best-known compositions, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Honeysuckle Rose were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame posthumously, in 1984 and 1999.<\/p>\n

Fats Waller (Thomas Wright Waller), was born in New York City in 1904. \u00a0He started playing piano when he was six and by the age of fourteen he was playing the organ at Harlem’s Lincoln Theater. \u00a0Within twelve months he had written his first rag (ragtime) song.<\/p>\n

By the age of fifteen he became a professional pianist, overcoming opposition from his clergyman father, working in cabarets and theaters. \u00a0Waller went on to become one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe. \u00a0He was also a prolific songwriter and many songs he wrote or co-wrote are still popular, such as “Honeysuckle Rose”, “Ain’t Misbehavin” and “Squeeze Me”.<\/p>\n

He enjoyed success touring the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1930s. \u00a0He appeared in one of the first BBC\u00a0television broadcasts. \u00a0While in Britain, Waller also recorded a number of songs for EMI. \u00a0He appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably\u00a0Stormy Weather<\/a><\/i>\u00a0 which you can view a video clip of below. \u00a0It was released in 1943 just months before his death.<\/p>\n

Multi-talented Waller performed Bach\u00a0organ pieces for small groups on occasion. \u00a0Waller influenced many pre-bop\u00a0jazz pianists; Count Basie\u00a0and Erroll\u00a0<\/a>Garner\u00a0have both reanimated his hit songs (notably, “Ain’t Misbehavin'”). \u00a0In addition to his playing, Waller was known for his many quips during his performances.<\/p>\n

Between 1926 and the end of 1927, Waller recorded a series of pipe organ solo records. \u00a0These represent the first time syncopated jazz compositions were ever performed on a full-sized church organ.<\/p>\n

His final recording session was with an interracial group in Detroit, Michigan in 1943, that included trumpeter Don Hirleman. \u00a0Waller was returning to New York City from Los Angeles, after the smash success of\u00a0Stormy Weather,<\/i>\u00a0and after a successful engagement at the Zanzibar Room, during which he had fallen ill. \u00a0He contracted pneumonia on a cross-country train trip near Kansas City, Missouri, where he died on December 15, 1943. \u00a0Coincidentally, as the train with the body of Waller stopped in Kansas City, so stopped a train with his dear friend Louis\u00a0Armstrong\u00a0on board. \u00a0Coincidence or providential?<\/p>\n

More than 4,000 people attended his funeral in Harlem at the Abyssinian Baptist\u00a0Church. \u00a0<\/em>Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., delivered the eulogy, and said that Fats Waller \u201calways played to a packed house.\u201d<\/p>\n

I highly recommend FATS WALLER “compilation” on iTunes<\/a>.
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See below 2 Videos by Fats Waller.<\/p>\n

Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Stormy Weather (1943) – FATS WALLER
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