I'll never forget when I first met Fats [Waller] personally, and began to associate with him in the fall of '28 and the spring of '29. He invited me to come to his rehearsals and his home while he was writing the music for Connie's HOT CHOCOLATES. He and the celebrated Andy Razaf were then working together. Andy, of course, writing the lyrics, and what a team they made! I'll never forget when they were writing "Black and Blue", "Ain't Misbehavin' ", "That Rhythm Man", and "Sweet savannah Sue." Fats, his coat off, collar opened, sitting at the piano at Connie's Inn, which was in a cave, with the inevitable bottle of gin (and, of course, this was bathtub gin, for they were Prohibition days)on the cover of the piano. he went over the numbers time after time, and finally finding some new embellishments for the particular number he was playing at the time, his face would light up with such an expression that it was transmitted to everybody in the room. He was so magnetic, with such a robust personality, that you could never be sad in his presence. Andy Razaf would be sitting on the side, chaining the lyrics here and there. Suddenly , he'd come to Fats piano, and with a pleasant voice, full of enthusiasm, he'd sing his new version to us. I'll never forget my impression of the two the very first time I heard them together. << less