Another very influential jazz pianist I haven’t written about so far, was Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller (21.05.1904 – 15.12.1943). He was a master of stride piano, but also organist, composer, singer and funny entertainer. Waller’s father was a Baptist lay preacher and his mother played piano and organ. He started to play piano at age six. When he was ten, he learned playing organ in his father’s church. Five years later, he composed his first rag called “Squeeze Me“. In 1922 he made his first record for Okeh at age 18. After that he backed various blues singers, worked as [...]
