Ain't Misbehavin'

A narrative of Waller's life and music, written by his personal manager. It covers his life and works, his collaborations, his friendships, his forays into films and musicals and also covers other memorable figures in the history of jazz and ragtime.

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This informal narrative of Waller's life and music was written by his personal manager. Kirkeby devotes the first 13 chapters to Fats' life and works: the collaboration, successful both artistically and financially, with lyricist Andy Razaf; the friendships with fellow performers James P. Johnson, Willie "the Lion" Smith, Duke Ellington and other memorable figures in the history of jazz and ragtime; and the successful forays into films and musicals. He then contributes his own memoir of an 8-year friendship with Fats, concluding with a discography. Thomas "Fats" Waller (1904-1943) belonged to the blues-derived Eastern or "stride" school of jazz piano. Protege of ragtime great James P. Johnson, his instrumental mastery earned him the reputation as the most perfect of all jazz pianists. He arrived on the scene just as jazz was flowering nation-wide, and he reaped a harvest of fame and fortune through his piano rolls, his recordings, and his European tours. His death in 1943 marked the end of the era called "swing".