Fats Waller

By: Maurice Waller and Anthony Calabrese

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Synopsis: Thomas &“Fats&” Waller was a legendary stride pianist, a wildly entertaining comedic singer, and the composer of such classic melodies as &“Honeysuckle Rose,&” &“Ain&’t Misbehavin&’,&” and hundreds more. This is the intimate, behind-the-scenes story of his exuberant life, as told by his son, Maurice Waller. The public knew him as a charming, rascally, and effervescent showman. Friends like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Irving Berlin, and George Gershwin knew him as a serious piano stylist and composer. Maurice Waller reveals the rarely seen side of Fats as a family man, struggling to juggle domestic affairs with the demands of being one of the era&’s busiest jazz men. From his earliest days as a child prodigy to his wild nights playing Harlem rent parties to his appearances on stages around the world and his eventual commercial success, it&’s all here. Few stories capture the frenetic energy of the age quite as well as the life story of this rollicking, hard living jazz icon.