Fats Waller is considered to have one of the most beloved personalities in American music and is considered one of jazz music’s brightest stars. Many have known him for his clown like antics, he was also primarily known as a beautiful pianist and an organist who would end up creating a spontaneous excitement impossible to replicate. Fats would bring his stride style of his famous piano playing fully into the swing era, he was both as a solo player and as the leader of a well-known legendary small combo. Fats would be using his impeccable technique in order to produce a uniquely bouncy swing and would improvise brilliantly. Born as Thomas Wright Waller in Passaic, New Jersey, Fats Waller's father, who is a Baptist Minister, would strongly resist Fats’ passion for jazz. The Waller family ended up migrating to Harlem from Virginia. Fats’ grandfather, Adolph Waller was also an accomplished violinist. Waller would start his musical career at an early age. He would end up studying the classical piano and also the organ as a child, he was taught by the music director of his Baptist church, who insisted he would also learn the organ works of J.S. Bach. When Fats was a young adult, Waller would take regular piano lessons from the legendary Harlem Stride pianist known as James P. Johnson. Other from that, he would also benefit from another legend of the stride piano, Willie “The Lion” Smith, who gave Fats the nickname “Filthy.” James P. Johnson would introduce Waller to the world of rent party and after that Waller would develop a playing career. He was known for being an excellent pianist, he was considered to be one of the very best who would ever play in stride style. Many would believe that his songwriting and his lovable, roguish stage personality would often overshadow his playing. Before his solo career started, he would play with many performers, from the talented Erskine Tate to the extravagant Bessie Smith but for his greatest success would come with his own five or six piece combo, whi