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Fats Waller was born in Harlem at a time when the area was experiencing a cultural renaissance, so this is the story of an era as well as the biography of one of its greatest musicians.
Waller wrote hundreds of songs of which more than a half dozen are now jazz standards, including, “Honeysuckle Rose,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” and “I’ve Got A Feeling I’m Falling.” Ain’t Misbehavin’ recounts Waller’s colorful life including his associations with James P. Johnson, Andy Razaf, Willie “The Lion” Smith, Mary Lou Williams, Count Basie, Spencer Williams, and more. There is little in the way of musical analysis but included at the end is a sixteen-page discography. There is no table of contents or index.
W. T. “Ed” Kirkeby was the friend and manager of Fats Waller during the last eight years of Waller’s life.
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