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48-593: Thomas Wright " Fats " Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist , organist , composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star in the jazz and swing eras, he toured internationally, achieving critical and commercial success in the United States and Europe. His best-known compositions, " Ain't Misbehavin' " and " Honeysuckle Rose ", were inducted into

96-690: A Highchair." Today's audiences can see and hear Waller performing his own works in Soundies musical films. These three-minute selections were filmed in 1941 in New York, by producer Fred Waller (no relation) and director Warren Murray. Waller filmed four songs: "Ain't Misbehavin ' ", "Honeysuckle Rose," "Your Feet's Too Big," and "The Joint Is Jumpin ' ". The films originally played in coin-operated movie jukeboxes and were later reprinted for home movies, television, and video. Later in Waller's career, he had

144-402: A great natural 'ear' for extemporaneous music-making. When jazz pianists improvise , they use the scales, modes, and arpeggios associated with the chords in a tune's chord progression. The approach to improvising has changed since the earliest eras of jazz piano. During the swing era, many soloists improvised "by ear" by embellishing the melody with ornaments and passing notes. However, during

192-666: A grocery store. Waller attended DeWitt Clinton High School for one semester, but left school at 15 to work as an organist at the Lincoln Theater in Harlem , where he earned $ 32 a week. Within 12 months he had composed his first rag . He was the prize pupil and later the friend and colleague of the stride pianist James P. Johnson . Waller also studied composition at the Juilliard School with Carl Bohm and Leopold Godowsky . His mother died on November 10, 1920, from

240-592: A habit of selling songs to other writers and performers who claimed them as their own. He died from pneumonia, aged 39. Waller was the seventh child of 11 (five of whom survived childhood) born to Adeline Locket Waller, a musician, and Reverend Edward Martin Waller, a trucker and pastor in New York City. He started playing the piano when he was six and began playing the organ at his father's church four years later. His mother instructed him in his youth, and he attended other music lessons, paying for them by working in

288-518: A kind of difficult number." Waller played with Nathaniel Shilkret , Gene Austin , Erskine Tate , Fletcher Henderson , McKinney's Cotton Pickers , and Adelaide Hall . According to Waller, he was kidnapped in Chicago while 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

336-577: A lot to keep the stride piano music of Waller and James P. Johnson alive. In 1949, as an 18-year-old, Janis put together a band of aging jazz greats, consisting of James P. Johnson (piano), Henry Goodwin (trumpet), Edmond Hall (clarinet), Pops Foster (bass), and Baby Dodds (drums), with Janis on trombone. A Broadway musical showcasing Waller tunes entitled Ain't Misbehavin' was produced in 1978 and featured Nell Carter, Andre de Shields, Armelia McQueen, Ken Page, and Charlaine Woodard. (The show and Nell Carter won Tony Awards .) The show opened at

384-402: A man who made the piano sing ... both big in body and in mind ... known for his generosity ... a bubbling bundle of joy". In the same notes are comments by clarinetist Gene Sedric , who recorded with Waller in the 1930s. "Fats was the most relaxed man I ever saw in a studio, and so he made everybody else relaxed. After a balance had been taken, we'd just need one take to make a side, unless it was

432-493: A more flexible role. Ultimately, the skilled pianist was free both to lead and to answer the instrumental soloist, using both short and sustained, chordal and melodic, fragments—a technique known as comping . Good comping musicians were capable of many and different chord voicings, so to match the various moods the different soloists were aiming for. In the early days, not all leading pianists were concerned to provide comping. Others—notably Duke Ellington , who became famous during

480-496: A party taking place. With a 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 was relieved that the kidnappers had no intention of killing him. In 1926, Waller began his recording association with the Victor Talking Machine Company / RCA Victor , his principal record company for the rest of his life, with

528-524: A stroke due to diabetes. Waller's first recordings, "Muscle Shoals Blues" and "Birmingham Blues," were made in October 1922 for Okeh Records . That year, he also made his first player piano roll , "Got to Cool My Doggies Now". Waller's first published composition, "Squeeze Me", was published in 1924. Pianist and composer Oscar Levant called Waller "the black Horowitz ". Working with his long-time songwriting partner, lyricist Andy Razaf , Fats also wrote

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576-551: A tribute to Waller. Waller's recordings were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame , a special Grammy Award established in 1973 to honour recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance." Source: Source: Jazz pianist Along with the guitar , vibraphone , and other keyboard instruments, the piano is one of the instruments in a jazz combo that can play both single notes and chords rather than only single notes as does

624-430: A white stride pianist playing Waller tunes – the young Harry Gibson . Waller tipped him handsomely and then hired him to be his relief pianist during his own performances. Waller also had contemporaries in recording studios. Waller recorded for Victor, so Decca Records hired singer-pianist Bob Howard for recordings aimed at Waller's audience, and Columbia Records followed suit with Putney Dandridge . Probably

672-468: Is to Kollmar's credit that he realized that he had a top-rate pop-song composer available in Waller. Waller's double duty as composer and performer was short-lived. During a cash crisis and in an advanced state of intoxication, Waller threatened to leave the production unless Kollmar bought the rights to his Early to Bed music for $ 1,000. (This was typical of Waller, who often sold melodies for quick cash when in his cups. The evidence suggests, for example, that

720-448: The Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999. Waller copyrighted over 400 songs, many of them co-written with his closest collaborator, Andy Razaf . Razaf described his partner as "the soul of melody... a man who made the piano sing... both big in body and in mind... known for his generosity... a bubbling bundle of joy". It is likely that he composed many more popular songs than he has been credited with. When in financial difficulties, he had

768-625: The Harlem Renaissance at the Cotton Club —earned great esteem among band members as well as other musicians. Ellington comped enthusiastically in support of the soloist and did much to develop the technique. Jazz piano moved away from playing lead melody to providing foundation for song sets; soon, skilled jazz pianists were performing as soloists. In the 1940s and 1950s, a number of great piano players emerged. Pianists like Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell helped create and establish

816-633: The Longacre Theatre and ran for more than 1600 performances. It was revived on Broadway in 1988 at the Ambassador Theatre with the original Broadway Cast. Performed by five African-American actors, the show included such songs as "Honeysuckle Rose," "This Joint Is Jumpin ' ", and " Ain't Misbehavin' ." In 1981, Thin Lizzy released the album Renegade , which contained the song "Fats", co-written by Phil Lynott and Snowy White as

864-430: The bebop era, the rapid tempo and complicated chord progressions made it increasingly harder to play "by ear." Along with other improvisers, such as saxes and guitar players, bebop-era jazz pianists began to improvise over the chord changes using scales (whole tone scale, chromatic scale, etc.) and arpeggios. Jazz piano (the technique) and the instrument itself offer soloists an exhaustive number of choices. One may play

912-498: The chords found in Western art music, such as major, minor, augmented, diminished, seventh, diminished seventh, sixth, minor seventh, major seventh, suspended fourth, and so on. A second key skill is learning to play with a swing rhythm and "feel". In jazz, the roots are usually omitted from keyboard voicings, as this task is left to the double bass player. Jazz pianists also make extensive use of chord "extensions", such as adding

960-478: The saxophone or trumpet . A new style known as "stride" or "Harlem stride" emerged during the 1920s, predominantly in New York , United States. James P. Johnson was a prominent proponent. The left hand was used to establish rhythm while the right hand improvised melodies. Mastering the various chord voicings—simple to advanced—is the first building block of learning jazz piano. Jazz piano technique uses all

1008-684: The Broadway musical Lew Leslie 's International Revue starring Harry Richman and Gertrude Lawrence . Ted Lewis did the first recording of the song in 1930 (Catalog #2144-D), followed by Harry Richman (Catalog # 4747) and both enjoyed hit records with the song. Having become a jazz standard , it was played by Louis Armstrong , the Nat King Cole Trio , Dave Brubeck , Earl Hines , Benny Goodman , Lionel Hampton , Erroll Garner , Dizzy Gillespie , Art Tatum , James Booker , Count Basie , and Lester Young . The Louis Armstrong version

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1056-574: The Dana Library Institute of Jazz Studies of "Spreadin' Rhythm Around" (Jimmy McHugh 1935) are in Waller's hand. Jazz historian Paul S. Machlin commented that the Singer conjecture has "considerable [historical] justification". According to a biography by Waller's son Maurice, Waller told his son never to play the song within earshot because he had to sell it when he needed money. Maurice Waller wrote that his father objected to hearing " On

1104-557: The Sunny Side of the Street " on the radio. The famous songwriting team of Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields said the song was inspired by their watching a young couple window shopping at Tiffany's. The anonymous sleeve notes on the 1960 RCA Victor album Handful of Keys state that Waller copyrighted over 400 songs, many of them co-written with his closest collaborator, Andy Razaf . Razaf described his partner as "the soul of melody ...

1152-834: The United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1930s, appearing on one of the first BBC television broadcasts on September 30, 1938, from the Alexandra Palace studios in London, performing "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby," "Honeysuckle Rose," "Neglected," "Hallelujah," and "Truckin ' ". While in Britain, Waller also recorded a number of songs for EMI on their Compton Theatre organ located in their Abbey Road Studios in St John's Wood . He appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably Stormy Weather in 1943, which

1200-486: The bass register and chords in the tenor register, while the right hand plays melody and improvises, as performed in George Gershwin 's "Liza". The right hand may play melodic lines, or harmonic content, chordally or in octaves. It may also be played in lockstep with the left hand, using a double melody block chord called "locked-hand" voicing , or Shearing voicing—a technique popularized, though not invented, by

1248-430: The bass register in an ostinato pattern, popular in boogie-woogie style, where the left hand repeats a phrase numerous times throughout a song, as performed by Rob Agerbeek in "Boogie Woogie Stomp". The left hand can also be played as a melodic counterline that emulates the walking of an upright bass . In stride piano , (similar to the earlier ragtime ) the left hand rapidly plays alternate positions between notes in

1296-403: The distinction of becoming the first African-American songwriter to compose a hit Broadway musical that was seen by a mostly white audience. Broadway producer Richard Kollmar 's hiring of Waller to create the 1943 musical Early to Bed was recalled in a 2016 essay about Waller by John McWhorter . Even as late as 1943, the idea of a black composer writing the score for a standard-issue white show

1344-406: The eulogy, to say that Waller "always played to a packed house." Afterwards, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered over Harlem from an airplane piloted by an unidentified African-American World War I aviator. American football player Darren Waller is his great-grandson. Waller had many admirers, during and after his heyday. In 1939, while nightclubbing in Harlem, Waller discovered

1392-668: The famous cross-country Los Angeles–Chicago train the Super Chief near Kansas City, Missouri . Waller was returning to New York City from Los Angeles, after the smash success of Stormy Weather , and a successful engagement at the Zanzibar Room in Santa Monica, California , during which he had fallen ill. More than 4,200 people were estimated to have attended his funeral at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem , which prompted Adam Clayton Powell Jr. , who delivered

1440-513: The most popular arrangement was by Tommy Dorsey and The Sentimentalists , which achieved chart success in 1945 reaching the No. 16 spot. In 1975, rockband Trapeze covered the song on their self-titled album Trapeze and it was also released as a 7" single but it did not chart. The song was featured in the 1991 film JFK , the 1995 film Father of the Bride Part II , in an episode of

1488-451: The most talented pianist to keep the music of Waller alive in the years after his death was Ralph Sutton , who focused his career on playing stride piano. Sutton was a great admirer of Waller, saying, "I've never heard a piano man swing any better than Fats – or swing a band better than he could. I never get tired of him. Fats has been with me from the first, and he'll be with me as long as I live." Actor and bandleader Conrad Janis also did

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1536-538: The movie Stormy Weather with just one musical scene and a bit of mugging later on, despite the competition of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson , Lena Horne , and the Nicholas Brothers . Kollmar's original choice for composer [of Early to Bed ] was Ferde Grofé, best known as the orchestrator of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," whose signature compositions were portentous concert suites. But Grofé withdrew, and it

1584-472: The music and/or performed in several successful Broadway musicals, including 1928's Keep Shufflin' , 1929's Hot Chocolates and (with lyricist George Marion Jr. ) 1943's Early To Bed . Waller is believed to have composed many novelty tunes in the 1920s and 1930s and sold them for small sums, attributed to another composer and lyricist. Standards attributed to Waller, sometimes controversially, include " I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby ". The song

1632-440: The ninth, eleventh or thirteenth scale degree to the chord. In some cases, these extensions may be "altered" i.e. sharpened or flattened, as in the case of a "sharp 11" chord. The next step is learning to improvise melodic lines using scales and chord tones. This ability is perfected after long experience, including much practice, which internalizes the physical skills of playing and the technical elements of harmony, and it requires

1680-658: The organ solos " St. Louis Blues " and his composition "Lenox Avenue Blues." Although he recorded with several groups, including Morris's Hot Babes (1927), Fats Waller's Buddies (1929) (one of the earliest multiracial groups to record), and McKinney's Cotton Pickers (1929), his most important contribution to the Harlem stride piano tradition was a series of solo recordings of his compositions: "Handful of Keys", "Smashing Thirds", "Numb Fumblin ' ", and "Valentine Stomp" (1929). After sessions with Ted Lewis (1931), Jack Teagarden (1931), and Billy Banks ' Rhythmakers (1932), he began in May 1934

1728-554: The pianist and set leader George Shearing . Jazz piano has played a leading role in developing the sound of jazz. Early on, Black jazz musicians created ragtime on the piano. As the genre progressed, the piano was usually featured in the rhythm section of a band, which was typically configured as one or more of piano, guitar, bass, or drums, or other instruments, such as the vibraphone. Over time, playing piano-accompaniment in ensemble sets, and then bands, changed from primarily time-keeping (consisting of repetitive left-hand figures) to

1776-463: The premiere of Early to Bed , it was still playing in a Broadway theater; at that point, newspapers reported Waller's premature death. In 1920, Waller married Edith Hatch, with whom he had a son, Thomas Waller Jr., in 1921. In 1923, Hatch divorced Waller. Waller married Anita Rutherford in 1926. Together, they had a son, Maurice Thomas Waller, born on September 10, 1927. In 1928, Waller and Rutherford had their second son, Ronald Waller. In 1938, Waller

1824-405: The sound of bebop. Bill Evans built upon the style of Powell while adding a distinct classical influence to his playing, while Oscar Peterson pushed rhythmic variations and was influenced by the style of Art Tatum , Teddy Wilson and Nat King Cole . Wynton Kelly , Red Garland , Herbie Hancock , and Keith Jarrett were also exceptional pianists who played with Miles Davis . Tommy Flanagan

1872-515: The standards "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" and "On the Sunny Side of the Street" were Waller tunes.) Waller came to his senses the next day, but Kollmar decided that his drinking habits made him too risky a proposition for eight performances a week. From then on, Waller was the show's composer only, with lyrics by George Marion, whose best-remembered work today is the script for the Astaire-Rogers film The Gay Divorcée . Six months after

1920-625: The voluminous series of recordings with a small band known as Fats Waller and his Rhythm. This six-piece group usually included Herman Autrey (sometimes replaced by Bill Coleman or John "Bugs" Hamilton ), Gene Sedric or Rudy Powell , and Al Casey . Waller wrote "Squeeze Me" (1919), " Keepin' Out of Mischief Now ," " Ain't Misbehavin' " (1929), "Blue Turning Grey Over You," "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling" (1929), " Honeysuckle Rose " (1929) and " Jitterbug Waltz " (1942). He composed stride piano display pieces such as "Handful of Keys," "Valentine Stomp," and " Viper's Drag ." He enjoyed success touring

1968-581: Was No. 1 on Your Hit Parade for two weeks in 1935. He also charted with "Whose Honey Are You?", "Lulu's Back in Town," "Sweet and Low," "Truckin ' ", "Rhythm and Romance," "Sing an Old Fashioned Song to a Young Sophisticated Lady," "West Wind," "All My Life," "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie," "Let's Sing Again," "Cross Patch," "You're Not the Kind," "Bye Bye Baby," "You're Laughing at Me," "I Love to Whistle," "Good for Nothing," "Two Sleepy People", and "Little Curly Hair in

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2016-401: Was featured by John Coltrane on his hit album Giant Steps . McCoy Tyner is also an influential player who played with Coltrane. On the Sunny Side of the Street "On the Sunny Side of the Street" is a 1930 song composed by Jimmy McHugh with lyrics by Dorothy Fields . Some authors say that Fats Waller was the composer, but he sold the rights to the song. It was introduced in

2064-601: Was known for his humorous quips during his performances. Between 1926 and the end of 1927, Waller recorded a series of pipe organ solo records. These represent the first time syncopated jazz compositions were performed on a full-sized church organ. In April 1927, Waller played the organ at the Vendome in Chicago for movies alongside Louis Armstrong, where his organ playing was praised for "witty cueing" and "eccentric stop coupling." Waller's RCA Victor recording of "A Little Bit Independent," written by Joe Burke and Edgar Leslie ,

2112-619: Was made famous by Adelaide Hall in the Broadway show Blackbirds of 1928 . Biographer Barry Singer offered circumstantial evidence that this song was written by Waller and lyricist Andy Razaf and provided a description of the sale given by Waller to the New York Post in 1929 – he sold the song for $ 500 to a white songwriter for use in a financially successful show (consistent with Jimmy McHugh 's contributions to Harry Delmar's Revels , 1927, and then to Blackbirds of 1928 ). He noted that early handwritten manuscripts in

2160-604: Was one of the first African Americans to purchase a home in the Addisleigh Park section of St. Albans, Queens , a New York City community with racially restrictive covenants. After his purchase, and litigation in the New York State courts, many prosperous African Americans followed, including many jazz artists, such as Count Basie , Lena Horne , Ella Fitzgerald , and Milt Hinton . Waller contracted pneumonia and died on December 15, 1943, while traveling aboard

2208-628: Was recorded in the key of C major, but it has been recorded in a range of keys; Ted Lewis recorded it in D major and Ella Fitzgerald in G major. Cover versions date as far back as 1930, when Layton & Johnstone released the song for Columbia. The song was recorded by Billie Holiday , Bing Crosby (January 21, 1946, with Lionel Hampton ), Dinah Washington , Ella Fitzgerald , Judy Garland , Doris Day , Brenda Lee (1961), Frankie Laine , Keely Smith , Nat King Cole , Jo Stafford with The Pied Pipers (a No. 17 hit in 1945), Frank Sinatra , Willie Nelson , Jon Batiste , and Rod Stewart . Arguably

2256-442: Was released July 21, just months before his death. For the hit Broadway show Hot Chocolates , he and Razaf wrote " (What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue " (1929), which became a hit for Ethel Waters and Louis Armstrong . Waller occasionally performed Bach organ pieces for small groups. He influenced many pre- bebop jazz pianists; Count Basie and Erroll Garner both revived his hit songs. In addition to his playing, Waller

2304-432: Was unheard of. When Broadway performer and producer Richard Kollmar began planning Early to Bed , his original idea was for Waller to perform in it as a comic character, not to write the music. Waller was, after all, as much a comedian as a musician. Comedy rarely dates well, but almost 80 years later, his comments and timing during "Your Feet's Too Big" are as funny as anything on Comedy Central, and he nearly walks away with

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