American jazz musician and composer whose many songs include "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Ain't Misbehaving" (both 1929). Waller Edmund Waller Fats Thomas Wright Waller
{i} family name; Augustus Volney Waller (1816-1870), English physiologist who was the first to describe the degeneration of cut off nerve fibers (Wallerian degeneration)
born March 3, 1606, Coleshill, Hertfordshire, Eng. died Oct. 21, 1687, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire English poet. As a member of Parliament during the political turmoil of the 1640s, he was arrested for his part in a plot to establish London as a stronghold of the king; by betraying his colleagues and by lavish bribes, he avoided death. He later wrote poetic tributes to both Oliver Cromwell (1655) and Charles II (1660). Rejecting the dense intellectual verse of Metaphysical poetry, he adopted generalizing statement, easy associative development, and urbane social comment. With his emphasis on definitive phrasing through inversion and balance, he prepared the way for the emergence of the heroic couplet. By the end of the 17th century the heroic couplet was the dominant form of English poetry. Waller's lyrics include the well-known "Go, lovely Rose!
a US jazz piano player, songwriter, and band leader, famous for his humorous performances. His songs include Honeysuckle Rose and Ain't Misbehavin' (1904-43). orig. Thomas Wright Waller born May 21, 1904, New York, N.Y., U.S. died Dec. 15, 1943, Kansas City, Mo. U.S. jazz pianist, singer, and composer. Waller was influenced early by stride pianist James P. Johnson. He became an important exponent of stride piano by the late 1920s, recording solo piano pieces such as "Handful of Keys." From 1934 he recorded with a small ensemble, Fats Waller and His Rhythm, integrating his vocals and unique comic timing with instrumental finesse. His rhythmically contagious performances of his own songs, such as "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose," are timeless classics of jazz