Thomas "Fats" Waller signs an autograph musical quotation. Autograph Music Quotation signed: "Best Wishes/Thanks/Thomas 'Fats' Waller", 1p, 6x8¼. Bar of music identified by the jazz pianist as "Ain't Misbehavin!/No! No!!" Thomas "Fats" Waller (1904-1943) left DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, New York, in 1917 after one year because he felt he was wasting his time. "There isn't any rhythm in algebra" he complained. His father was a well-known violinist, so Thomas was allowed to leave Clinton to get a job so he could afford piano lessons. He was only 17 when he pressed his first records and made his first piano rolls, and at 19 he initiated his first radio broadcasts. In 1929, Waller wrote the score for the Broadway hit Hot Chocolates. His most famous song "Ain't Misbehavin'" was introduced in the show, which featured Louis Armstrong. Waller was only 39 when he died of pneumonia. Two unrelated autographs, dated 1939 on verso (no show through). Irregular left edge. Lightly shaded at margins. Light diagonal stain touches the top of the "T" in Thomas. Overall, fine condition.

His rare signature on a letter of agreement with Columbia Records, concerning recorded distribution of his live performance at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival. Documentary Letter signed: "Thelonious Monk", 1 page, 8½x11. Forest Hills, N.Y., 1963 September 23. On letterhead of Columbia Records. Monk signs his assent to a letter referencing a prior agreement by him with Columbia Records (1962 July 30), and declaring that no additional compensation will be owed him for the recording of his performance at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival unless the company issues a complete LP album featuring his performance exclusively. Jazz pianist and composer Thelonius Monk (1917-1982) has been called "the high priest of bebop," although his idiosyncratic style defies glib categorization. Several of his compositions, including Round Midnight and Blue Monk are classics of the genre. Although Monk had been performing since the early 1940s and had already written some of his classic songs, it was not until the mid-1950s that his avant-garde style began to attract a wide audience. In 1956 he released Brilliant Corners, considered one of the classic jazz albums of all time. Monk's reputation has only grown since his death: he received posthumously a special Pulitzer Prize for Music and a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement.