Celebrates the exemplary life and work of the greatest of jazz entertainers. Fats started playing church organ at age 10 and his all-action musical career ended, full speed ahead, at the age of 39. He had written probably 950 to a thousand tunes, many of them sold for 'beer-money' to greedy music publishers.

Amid the hard times of the Depression new dances, the Lindy Hop and Swing, caught on at the dance halls of New York even as the jobless lined the streets and drought ruined Midwest farms. Jazz, during 1929 through 1935, lifted the nation's spirit. Record sales boomed while Armstrong became a major entertainer as singer, trumpeter, band leader, radio and film performer. Ellington's elegance, compositions, brilliant band films and recordings created...