With his exceptional musicianship, compositional flair and indefatigable showmanship, Thomas "Fats" Waller (1904-1943) was one of the early great "cross-over" artists...at once a brilliant--and serious--jazz pianist and a highly successful entertainer with a lovable, roguish stage personality that pleased millions. His popularity was, really, only rivaled by Louis Armstrong's, and his technical brilliance at the keyboard inspired Oscar Levant to dub him "the black Horowitz".
NEW 8:00 PM Start Time!
Unsaturated Fats is one of the 4 OFAM evening concerts held at The Shedd’s Jaqua Concert Hall that begin at 8:00 pm rather than our usual 7:30 pm and run 1 hour 15 min without intermission.
We’ve designed these slightly-shorter, later-starting "Summer Shorts", as we’re calling them, so our patrons can enjoy a more leisurely dinner before coming to a refreshingly entertaining evening of fine music!
This show features Marty Grosz, one of the foremost experts on and practitioners of Fats' music, as well as one of the best purveyors of Fats' piano technique, Dick Hyman. Between the two of them, we'll manage a good degree of the "feel" of Waller the performer.
And finally, there are those absolutely fantastic, timeless songs. Look for the great hits: "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "The Joint Is Jumpin'", "Squeeze Me" and more!
| | Honeysuckle Rose(1929)
- introduced in Load of Coal
instrumental | A. Razaf (w), F. Waller (m) |
| | I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby(1931)
Marty | A. Hill (w), F. Waller (m) |
| | The Joint Is Jumpin'(1937)
Marty | A. Razaf (w), F. Waller/J. Johnson (m) |
| | Squeeze Me (1928)
instrumental | C. Williams (w), F. Waller (m) |
| | Ain't Misbehavin'(1930)
- introduced in Hot Chocolates
Marty | A. Razaf (w), F. Waller (m) |
| | Up Jumped You With Love(1942)
Marty | F. Waller (m) |
| | The Jitterbug Waltz(1942)
instrumental | F. Waller/R. Maltby (m) |
| | Your Feet's Too Big (1936)
Marty | F. Fisher/A. Benson (w/m) |
| | Carolina Shout(1918)
Dick | J. Johnson (m) |
| | A Porter's Love Song To A Chambermaid(1930)
Marty | A. Razaf (w), J. Johnson (m) |
| | Viper's Drag(1940)
instrumental | F. Waller (m) |
| | Yacht Club Swing(1938)
instrumental | F. Waller (m) |
| | Blue Turning Grey Over You(1929)
Marty | A. Razaf (w), F. Waller (m) |
| | Keeping Out Of Mischief Now(1932)
Marty | A. Razaf (w), F. Waller (m) |
| | I Wish I Were Twins(1934)
Marty | F. Loesser/E. DeLange (w), J. Meyer (m) |
| | I Believe In Miracles (1934)
Marty | S. Lewis (w), G. Meyer/P. Wendling (m) |
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| Featured composers, lyricists, creators |
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Ada Benson Eddie DeLangeFred Fisher Alex Hill James P. Johnson Jimmy Johnson Sam Lewis Frank Loesser Richard Maltby George Meyer Joseph Meyer Andy RazafFats WallerPete Wendling Clarence Williams |