Fats Waller Emerges as Harlem's Greatest Stride Pianist

By 1922, Thomas 'Fats' Waller—a student of James P. Johnson—had established himself as Harlem's most gifted stride pianist and the first to master jazz organ for popular music. He tutored Duke Ellington at the Kentucky Club during the mid-1920s. His compositions 'Ain't Misbehavin'' and 'Honeysuckle Rose' came later in the decade, and his showmanship influenced virtually every jazz pianist who followed.