Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller was a great stride pianist, organist, composer and entertainer and he was born on this date in 1904.  One of eleven children, Waller started piano lessons at age six and was playing the organ in the church where his father was pastor by age ten.  He dropped out of high school at 15 to take a job as the organist at the Lincoln Theater in Harlem, providing the music for silent movies.  It was there that he later gave organ lessons to the great Count Basie.

Known for his humorous asides while performing, Waller was a prolific composer, as well, copyrighting some 400 songs starting with “Squeeze Me” in 1924.  Two of his best-known tunes are Honeysuckle Rose and Ain’t Misbehavin’.
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After a performance in Chicago in 1926, Waller was kidnapped and spirited to the Hawthorne Inn where he learned he was to be the special guest performer for Al Capone’s birthday party.

“Fats” Waller composed and performed in a number of Broadway musicals including “Keep Shufflin’,” “Hot Chocolates,” and “Early to Bed.”   Shortly before his death from pneumonia at the age of 39, he made a memorable appearance in the 1943 movie “Stormy Weather,” along with Lena Horne, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Cab Calloway, Dooley Wilson and the Nicholas Brothers.

Here is a link to his 1943 performance of Ain't Misbehavin' from "Stormy Weather:"

"AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'"