June 2026 - "Ain't Misbehavin'"

Juneteenth is the name given to the June 19th observances that commemorate the delayed arrival of freedom to enslaved people in Texas in 1865, but it also celebrates the flourishing of Black culture in the generations that followed. As Juneteenth invites us to reflect on the long arc of African American creativity, resilience, and cultural leadership, Ain’t Misbehavin’ stands as a joyful product of that legacy. It was written in 1929 by Fats Waller, Andy Razaf, and Harry Brooks for the revue Hot Chocolates, where Louis Armstrong’s performance turned it into a national sensation.

When Waller co‑wrote Ain’t Misbehavin’, he was already a rising star of Harlem’s vibrant music scene. A virtuoso of stride piano, Waller blended dazzling technique with a comic, larger‑than‑life stage presence. His career spanned composing, performing, radio, film, and nightclub work, and he became one of the most recorded jazz musicians of the 1930s. His music blended church roots, blues inflections, and jazz improvisation into a style that was unmistakably his own. Tunes like Honeysuckle Rose, Jitterbug Waltz, and Ain’t Misbehavin’ cemented his reputation as both a master composer and a cultural icon of the Harlem Renaissance.

Over the years, it has been performed and recorded by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Leon Redbone, and Willie Nelson. Here’s a link to a YouTube video of the song being performed by Louis Armstrong:

… and here’s a link to a “practice video” of this mountain dulcimer arrangement:

Enjoy!

—Tull

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