| Event type: | Meeting |
| Date: | 19th March 2026 |
| Time: | 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm |
| Venue: | Kenilworth Methodist Church |
| Organiser: | |
| Cost: | Entry is free to u3a members. Non-members are welcome for a nominal charge of £1 |
A.G.M , About 20 mins before our talk starts - please attend
Speaker: Roger Browne
Fats Waller was a superb entertainer with his fabulous piano playing, wonderful songs and his larger-than-life personality. He led a riotous life, some hilarious, some shocking, some Mafia related and some moving. Hear his story and his awesome music through Roger Browne who we are delighted to welcome back to entertain us.
As a jazz pianist, Roger has accompanied many top International and UK based jazz artists including George Chisholm, Humphrey Lyttleton, George Melly, Marion Montgomery, Stefan Grappelli, Louis Armstrong all-star, Bud Freeman, Scott Hamilton, Danny Moss etc. He has played in many countries and across the UK, America’s West Coast, in California and Washington State, in Montana, Arizona, Canada’s British Columbia, across the Caribbean, in Spain, Germany, Norway, Republic of Ireland and The Netherlands. Roger, now, apart from playing piano for Manchester Jazz and various of his own groups, delivers talks about his amazing life of music, featuring stories, songs, and interpretations of music by Gershwin, Kern, Porter etc., in his own inimitable piano style.
Review - Paul Weller
Roger Browne has entertained us on several occasions; each visit has proved to be an enthralling afternoon. This talk was no exception when he described the era of Fats Waller and played and sang many of his famous jazz hits. Fats Waller was rated as one of the greatest jazz musicians.
It was around 1865, when slavery was abolished, that impromptu music sprang up, often called ‘the Blues’. This popular music was then picked up by a collection of music publishers and song writers in an area of New York known as Tin Pan Alley.
Fats Waller came onto the music scene at about this time. He was born in 1904 in New York and when he was a boy learnt to play the organ, as his father was a Church Pastor. But he went on to play several instruments by ear. He developed into an amazing entertainer as well as a musician.
When he was 12 years old, he was invited to play in a jazz band but turned up wearing short trousers. The band donated money for him to buy long trousers!
Fats was a large man who was able to stretch his left hand over 10 notes on the piano keyboard, which gave him a great advantage over other players. However, he lead a chaotic life. He showed an inclination to drink large amounts of alcohol from the age of 17 or 18, a habit which would last for the rest of his short life.
One famous episode in Fats life was when he was kidnapped by the Mafia. He was playing at a jazz session in Chicago when he was restrained, blindfolded and forcibly transported to meet Al Capone and his henchmen. He was sat at another piano and told to play which he did for a solid 8 hours as the gangsters requested numerous jazz tunes. After each session he had $100 bills stuffed into his pockets. It is said he earnt more in that single session as he did the whole previous year!
Another session that Fats was invited to meant he had to play in a separate room to the other white members of the band! Unbelievable nowadays!
Fats, despite his size and weight, was very popular with the girls, who were drawn to him like a magnet. This led to him having to pay alimony, but he seldom had any money to pay, so spent some time in prison until the alimony was paid, by people wishing to get Fats out of prison to perform at jazz sessions.
Fats was also a favourite at ‘Rent Parties’. Black people, not able to pay their rent, were imprisoned until the rent was paid. Hence ‘Rent Parties’ were arranged where the band played faster and faster until the audience, in appreciation, donated towards the unpaid rent. Any cash left over went to the band.
Fats Waller was a larger than life, entertaining character who loved to make people happy through jazz. He died at the age of 39, probably through alcohol, but during his short life contributed greatly to the appreciation of jazz.
Roger described Fats chaotic and eventful life while playing and singing some of Fats original jazz tunes. A great musical afternoon enjoyed by a large audience.