Fats Waller and Friends
Thomas Fats Waller was a singer, a composer and an effortless comedian, his personality was bubbly and addictive. However, he was beset with drink problems throughout his career. Not a businessman, he could compose a hit over the phone and sign away the copyright without a second thought.
A New Yorker, born in 1904, he was a pupil of James P Johnson and one of the greatest of the Harlem stride school. His piano solos in Numb Fumblin’ and Alligator Crawl are the stuff of genius, whilst his sly genial vocals hammed up his delicious lyrics in songs like Your Feet’s Too Big. Tragically, Fats Waller died in 1943, just 39 years old.
