Fats Waller
Born: 1904
Jazz music’s first organist and one of the giants of piano jazz Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller was born on
May 21, 1904 in Harlem into a musical family. His grandfather was an accomplished violinist and his
mother was the church organist. His family had moved to New York City from Virginia in the late 1880s
and his father was the pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. His first exposure of music
was in the form of church hymns and organ music, an instrument that he was taught to play… Continue