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Jazz pianist Fats Waller was, the story goes, pushed into a car by armed men in Chicago in 1926 and driven to a party where he was the surprise present for gangster Al Capone's birthday. He played for three days and left with his pockets full of cash.

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The story behind the card

According to the account his son Maurice later gave in a biography of his father, four men with guns seized Waller as he left a show in Chicago, and he feared he was about to be killed. They drove him to the Hawthorne Inn in Cicero, Capone's headquarters just outside the city, and told him to play. Food and champagne kept coming, and Capone and his guests tipped him generously, reportedly with hundred-dollar bills. No police record or independent source confirms the story, so it is best treated as family history rather than proven fact. Waller himself was one of the great pianists and entertainers of the 1920s and 1930s, and his songs include 'Ain't Misbehavin'', written in 1929.

Türkçe oku
Anlatılana göre caz piyanisti Fats Waller, 1926'da Chicago'da silahlı adamlarca zorla bir arabaya bindirildi ve bir partiye götürüldü; meğer gangster Al Capone'un doğum günü hediyesi oymuş. Üç gün boyunca piyano çaldı ve cepleri parayla dolu ayrıldı.

Oğlu Maurice'in daha sonra babası hakkında yazdığı biyografide anlattığına göre, Waller Chicago'da bir gösteriden çıkarken silahlı dört adam onu yakaladı; Waller öldürüleceğini sandı. Adamlar onu şehrin hemen dışındaki Cicero'da, Capone'un karargâhı olan Hawthorne Inn'e götürüp çalmasını söyledi. Yemek ve şampanya hiç eksik olmadı; Capone ve konukları ona, söylendiğine göre yüz dolarlık banknotlarla, cömert bahşişler verdi. Hikâyeyi doğrulayan bir polis kaydı ya da bağımsız bir kaynak yok; bu yüzden kanıtlanmış bir olay değil, bir aile anlatısı olarak görmek en doğrusu. Waller ise 1920'ler ve 1930'ların en büyük piyanistlerinden ve sahne adamlarından biriydi; 1929'da yazdığı “Ain't Misbehavin'” en bilinen şarkılarındandır.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Fats Waller
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