Kevin Gilmond

Maria Vignone Slutiak

Jazz
13 October 2016
Fats Waller
Thomas Wright Fats Waller was an American jazz pianist born May 21, 1904 to parents
Adeline Locket Waller and Reverend Edward Martin Waller in New York City. He was the
youngest of eleven children: competition in the house was always high. His piano playing began
at the young age of six and in four years would go on to play the organ at his fathers church. At
age fourteen he debuted at the Lincoln Theatre, in Harlem playing the organ and four years after
that would go on to record his first piano solos ("Muscle Shoals Blues" and "Birmingham
Blues") in October 1922. He was eighteen years old.
Against his fathers wishes, Fats decided to become a musician. At age fifteen he began
playing in cabarets and more theatres. In 1918 he won a talent contest playing James P. Johnson's
Carolina Shout which he learned from watching a pianola play the song. He would later take
piano lessons from Johnson. Fats began his recording career in 1922 and made a living playing
rent parties, as an organist at movie theatres and as an accompanist for various vaudeville acts.
Waller became one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial
success in the United States and Europe. In 1927 he co-wrote a couple of tunes with his old
piano teacher James P. Johnson for his show "Keep Shufflin'". Two years later Waller wrote the
score for the Broadway hit "Hot Chocolates" with lyrics supplied by his friend Andy Razaf. Fats'
most famous song, "Ain't Misbehavin'" was introduced in this show which featured Louis

Armstrong. Fats Waller's big break occurred at a party given by George Gershwin in 1934, where
he delighted the crowd with his piano playing and singing. An executive of Victor Records, who
was at the party was so impressed that he arranged for Fats to record with the company. This
arrangement would continue until Waller's death. Waller contracted pneumonia and died on a
cross-country train trip near Kansas City, Missouri, on December 15, 1943. More than 4,000
people attended his funeral in Harlem, which prompted Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., who
delivered the eulogy, to say that Fats Waller "always played to a packed house." Afterwards he
was cremated and his ashes were scattered, from an airplane piloted by an unidentified World
War I black aviator, over Harlem.
Some fun facts about Waller consist of a scandal where people questioned the
authenticity of some of songs since in the early part of his career he would usually sell songs for
small sums of money. Another is that Waller pioneered the use of the pipe organ and Hammond
organ in jazz. He called the pipe organ the "God box" adapting his irresistible sense of swing to
the pedals and a staccato right hand while making imaginative changes of the registration. My
favorite fun fact would be that on one occasion Waller was kidnapped in Chicago leaving a
performance in 1926. Four men bundled him into a car and took him to the Hawthorne Inn,
owned by Al Capone. Waller was ordered inside the building, and found a party in full swing.
Gun to his back, he was pushed towards a piano, and told to play. A terrified Waller realized he
was the "surprise guest" at Capone's birthday party, and took comfort that the gangsters did not
intend to kill him. It is rumored that Waller stayed at the Hawthorne Inn for three days and left
very drunk, extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars in cash from Capone and other
party-goers as tips.