Fats Waller (1904-1943) was literally the most well-rounded jazz pianist of the 20th Century. He was a song writer, singer, master of stride piano, a hit maker, and he often did it with a comic flair. Art Tatum was perhaps a superior contemporary pianist, at least technically, but few brought as much passion and energy to a performance as did Fats Waller.
Folksinger Steve Goodman performs “It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie.” This song was written by Billy Mayhew and introduced by Fats Waller on a Victor 78 rpm.
The Muppets perform a Fats Waller 1929 classic “Ain’t Misbehavin.'”
In this transcription of Fats Waller’s “Handful of Keys,” you see a good example of stride piano. The bass hand often covers several octaves on every other beat.
Here is an early “soundie” recording of the novelty song “Your Feet’s Too Big.” The soundie recording for Waller’s “This Joint Is Jumpin'” is one of the better ones, but I couldn’t find a clean recording of it.
