Thomas "Fats" Waller, was born in New York City, May 21,1904, and died in Kansas City, Missouri, Dec. 15, 1943, was a celebrated jazz pianist, organist,and composer. Early in the 1920s, Waller became the protege of the famous pianist James P. Johnson and later accompanied such important vocalists as Florence Hills and Bessie Smith. His hundreds of recordings, including some early piano rolls, encompass ragtime, boogie woogie, dixieland, and swing, although in his hands these styles are deftly recomposed into a unique Waller sound that influenced most of the jazz pianists of the following generation. His appearances on radio and in several motion pictures (notably Stormy Weather, 1943) brought Waller's talents to a wide audience. A major jazz creator, he wrote complete scores for such all-black shows as Keep Shufflin' (1928) and Hot Chocolates (1929) as well as many single pieces, especially the now-classic "Honeysuckle Rose," "Ain't Misbehavin'," and "Black and Blue."