When was fats waller born

As Waller grew up, he became interested in jazz music, which his pastor father disapproved of, characterizing the art form as " music from the Devil's workshop.

He was so focused on music that he even worked in a grocery store after school to pay for lessons. Waller even found musical mentors, residing in the home of pianist Russell B. Brooks and becoming acquainted with James P.

Jimmie Johnson taught me that. You got to hang onto the melody and never let it get boresome. That year, he married his first wife, Edith Hatch. The couple welcomed son Thomas Waller Jr. He then spent three years as a performer on the Cincinnati radio show "Fats Waller's Rhythm Club," coming back to New York in to appear as a regular on the"Rhythm Club" radio show.

That year, he also launched the band Fats Waller and His Rhythm sextet, which went on to record hundreds of tracks, combining jazz with slapstick comedy.

Waller managed to parlay his radio career into a film career, appearing in the movies "Hooray for Love! In radio and film, alike, he used slapstick comedy for laughs, but he grew tired of being typecast. He was serious about his craft and wanted his fans to view him in the same way. In , he recorded the complex composition "London Suite" in an effort to change public perception about his artistry.

However, the path to music became inevitable following the death of Waller's mother, Adeline, in Waller moved in with the family of pianist Russell B. Brooks, who introduced the youngster to James P. Johnson, founder of the stride school of jazz piano. Waller continued to play organ at the Lincoln Theatre while also taking engagements at theaters in Philadelphia and Chicago.

In addition, he often starred at Harlem's famous "rent parties," where he and his fellow musicians would essentially stage concerts in friends' homes. Larger than life with his sheer size and magnetic personality, Waller was known to enjoy alcohol and female attention in abundance. Waller became more involved with writing and performing for revues in the late s, starting with Keep Shufflin' in Blues Classical Country. Electronic Folk International. Jazz Latin New Age.

Aggressive Bittersweet Druggy. Energetic Happy Hypnotic. Romantic Sad Sentimental. Sexy Trippy All Moods. Drinking Hanging Out In Love. Introspection Late Night Partying. Rainy Day Relaxation Road Trip.

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 and he learned how to read and write music. His father hoped that he would follow a religious calling rather than a career in jazz, but his love of jazz proved too great. In his mother, Adeline Waller, passed away and Waller moved in with the family of his piano tutor, Russell Brooks.

While living with Brooks, Waller met James P.