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Fats Waller

Music Interviews

The Genius of Fats Waller

If You Got to Ask, You Ain't Got It is Sony Legacy's new 3-CD set of jazz-great Fats Waller's best music. Historians and music critics say no one has ever quite been able to fill Waller's shoes since his death in 1943.

The Genius of Fats Waller

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Music

Fats Waller's Playful Jazz Piano Legacy

Fats Waller was often dubbed the "clown prince" of jazz who delighted crowds with his playful stage antics — a reputation that overshadowed his gifts as a musician and songwriter. A new CD collection of his recordings focuses on the music behind the merriment.

Fats Waller's Playful Jazz Piano Legacy

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Studio Sessions

A Tribute to Fats Waller

Fresh Air

Guitarist and singer Marty Grosz and cornet player Randy Reinhart join us for a special in-studio performance in honor of the 100th birthday of Thomas "Fats" Waller. He would have been 100 on May 21. Grosz and Reinhart will perform songs composed by the great pianist and vocalist. Waller wrote many hit songs, appeared in films in the 1930s and 1940s, and wrote Broadway musicals. Some of his best-loved songs include "Ain't Misbehavin'," "Honeysuckle Rose" and "The Joint is Jumpin'." There's a new CD/DVD set called Fats Waller: The Centennial Collection on Bluebird Records.

A Tribute to Fats Waller

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Music Interviews

A Century of Fats Waller, Jazz's Clown Prince

Friday marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Fats Waller, an African-American pianist, singer and songwriter who found success among both black and white audiences 70 years ago. During much of the 1930s and '40s, Waller's music — marked by mischievous lyrics — ruled the airwaves. Ashley Kahn reports on the man known as the Clown Prince of Jazz.

A Century of Fats Waller, Jazz's Clown Prince

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Music Interviews

The Music of Fats Waller

As the Fats Waller centennial approaches, Tom Vitale looks back at a remarkable career in both jazz and popular music. Waller — of "Ain't Misbehavin'" fame — was the first musician to be equally successful among black and white audiences.

The Music of Fats Waller

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Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

Fats Waller: 'The Joint is Jumpin"

In the Harlem "rent party" tradition, jazz artists would compete on piano in an apartment for listeners who paid a quarter each to get in. According to many, Fats Waller could outdo all comers. Known for his comic touch, Waller also pioneered the use of the pipe organ in jazz.

Fats Waller: 'The Joint is Jumpin"

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Stride Piano: Bottom-End Jazz

Fats Waller seemed to pack 10 lifetimes of fun into his 39 years on the planet. Evening Standard/Hulton Archive hide caption

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Evening Standard/Hulton Archive

Take Five: By Instrument

Stride Piano: Bottom-End Jazz

Jazz24

Born out of Harlem in the 1920s, stride pianists took the basic left-hand "oompah" rhythm of ragtime, but played it with more swing and complexity, while the right hand played the melody and the ever-increasing improvisations upon it. Read and hear a five-song introduction to a style that travels great distances up and down the keyboard.

Jason Moran Takes Fats Waller Back To The Club

Fats Waller's stride piano style was in demand at rent parties and millionaires' mansions. Somehow, he pulled everyone in and got them to dance. Evening Standard/Hulton Archive hide caption

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Evening Standard/Hulton Archive

Music Interviews

Jason Moran Takes Fats Waller Back To The Club

Moran's new project with Me'Shell Ndegeocello transforms Waller's rollicking stride piano style into contemporary dance music.

Jason Moran Takes Fats Waller Back To The Club

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Songs We Love: Going Postal

You never know what you'll find when you open up your mailbox. Josh McGinn/flickr.com hide caption

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Josh McGinn/flickr.com

Snail Mail Struggles: The Postal Service Series

Songs We Love: Going Postal

KUT 90.5

This Thanksgiving, Morning Edition and All Things Considered are examining the impact of the U.S. Postal Service's current cutbacks. NPR Music partner station KUT in Austin, Texas, remembers 10 of the classic songs that came out of writing or waiting for that special letter.

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