FATS WALLER - AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'

In 1929, Fats Waller first recorded his early jazz and swing standard Ain't Misbehavin'. The song was written along with Harry Brooks and lyricist Andy Raza, and it was introduced in the 1929 off-Broadway revue Connie's Hot Chocolates. The show was so successful it was moved from Harlem to the Hudson Theatre on Broadway, where it was billed simply as Hot Chocolates. The Broadway run of the popular all-black revue featured Louis Armstrong's Broadway debut as the orchestra director. Armstrong, who was well-known at the time, would steal the show when he stepped out of the orchestra pit to play a trumpet solo on stage for the show's reprise of this song. Fats Waller personally taught Armstrong the song. Louis Armstrong was one of several successful recordings of Ain't Misbehavin' in 1929, and it would become his all-time best selling record. Armstrong eventually would leave the show, personally selecting Cab Calloway to replace him as orchestra director. After leaving the show, Armstrong and Waller were regular performers at Connie's Inn in Harlem. The nightclub, like it's rival Cotton Club, were known for featuring black musicians performing for a whites-only audience. In 2013, Alicia Keys performed Ain't Misbehavin' in the Leonardo DiCaprio film The Great Gatsby.