Jazz Life and Times: Fats Waller

Fats Waller (1904-1943) was an outsize man in all respects: five feet eleven inches tall, he weighed 285 pounds. He was the greatest of the Harlem "stride" pianists, he composed hundreds of songs, he led a band which made over 400 recordings and he wrote several Broadway shows. Waller is seen by jazz historians as a man of immense musical talent which was never fulfilled, in the interests of his career as a popular and humorous entertainer. In this fully revised and updated biography of Waller, Alyn Shipton re-examines his career, arguing that his talents as a songwriter, show composer and brilliant recording and broadcasting artist have not been fully appreciated. A new final chapter, provides a comprehensive survey of Waller's recordings as they have been reissued for the CD era

© 1989 Omnibus Press (Rafbók): 9780857128270

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Rafbók: 6 april 1989