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Fats Waller returns! Featuring more of his very own piano rolls, original recordings & now his early organ performances. ----------------------------- Jazz pianist virtuoso, organist, composer and grand entertainer, Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller was born on May 21, 1904 in Harlem, New York. He became one of the most popular and influential performers of his era and a master of stride piano playing, finding critical and commercial success in both the United States and abroad, particularly in Europe. Waller was also a prolific songwriter, with many of his own compositions becoming huge commercial successes such as “Ain't Misbehaving'“ & “Honeysuckle Rose“ with his longtime lyricist & partner Andy Razaf. Let alone anything else, his technique and attention to decorative detail on the keys influenced countless jazz pianists including Art Tatum, Count Basie, and Thelonious Monk. Waller came from a very musical family—his grandfather was an accomplished violinist and his mother was the organist of his family’s church. His first exposure to music was in the form of church hymns and organ music, an instrument he was taught to play by his mother and the church musical director. When he was a young boy his mother hired a piano tutor where he eventually learned how to read and write music for himself. His father hoped that he would follow a religious calling on the organ rather than a career in jazz, but his love of jazz proved too become to great (fortunately enough.) In 1920 his mother, Adeline Waller, passed away and Waller moved in with the family of his piano tutor, Russell Brooks. While living with Brooks, Waller would later on run into James P. Johnson and Willie “The Lion“ Smith, two of the greatest stride pianists of the era. Both men saw Waller’s potential as a born showman, with Johnson deciding to take Waller under his wing and teaching him the stride style of piano playing, greatly advancing his level of musical education. By the age of 15, Waller was playing the organ at a Harlem silent movie theatre for $23 a week. In 1922, Waller made his recording debut as a soloist for the Okeh record label and in 1923 he began his journey of recording a number of piano rolls for the QRS Company (many of which are featured within this very video.) As soon as 1926 had come around the corner, Waller's career had taken off when he signed in with the RCA Victor Label. From there, he would record many sides and scored an abundance of hits with RCA such as “Jitterbug Waltz,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” and “The Joint is Jumpin‘,” becoming one of the most popular jazz & stride pianist of the time, despite the notion that jazz was not a “serious” form of music. Around this point, it had even been said that Waller surpassed his former mentor James P. Johnson in both skill & efficiency when it came to pouncing on the keys. Waller’s other accomplishments include vaudeville appearances with the famous blues singer Bessie Smith, soon after which he wrote the music to the Broadway show “Keep Shufflin'.” In 1927, Waller met the poet and lyricist Andy Razaf where the two would go on to produce major hit songs & singles as well as collaborate on several musicals, the most of popular of which, “Hot Chocolates“ would bring them great critical and commercial success from their partnership. Biography is continued in the pinned comment below. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timestamps: / “[QRS ####]“ = Piano Roll Catalog # 0:00:00 - Do It Mr. So-and-So (1924) [QRS 2708] 0:05:28 - Don't Try to Take My Man Away (1924) [QRS 2711] 0:09:23 - A New Kind of Man With a New Kind of Love For Me (1924) [Standard Play-a-Roll 0677] 0:12:25 - Squeeze Me (1926) [QRS 3352] 0:15:38 - 18th Street Strut (1926) [QRS 3377] 0:18:24 - Cryin' for My Used To Be (1927) [QRS 3800] 0:22:05 - If I Could Be With You (1927) [QRS 3818] 0:25:11 - Nobody But My Baby (1927) [QRS 3997] 0:28:39 - I'm Coming Virginia (1927) [QRS 4073] 0:32:51 - Blue Black Bottom (1927) 0:35:51 - The Digah's Stomp (1927) 0:39:18 - Sloppy Water Blues (1927) 0:42:28 - Soothin' Syrup Stomp (1927) 0:45:30 - Lenox Avenue Blues (1927) 0:48:11 - Fats Waller Stomp (1927) 0:51:40 - The Rusty Pail Blues (1927) 0:54:48 - Messin' Around with the Blues (1927) 0:57:56 - Please Take Me Out of Jail (1927) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music composed by Thomas Wright “Fats“ Waller, James P. Johnson, Thomas Morris, Charlie Irvis & Phil Worde. Performed via original recordings & recorded QRS piano rolls by Fats Waller. This video is solely for the purposes of compiling and sharing the music of Fats Waller and in no way or means is being used for monetary purposes.
