ABSTRACT
U.S. Big Band leader and drummer, born in Chicago. He played in various Dixieland combos, mainly the New Orleans Rhythm Kings in Chicago. He organized his first band in 1924, and began to attract star sidemen, many of whom went on to form their own orchestras: Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Charlie Spivak, Harry James, Jimmy McPartland, etc. In the 1920s he had one of the most outstanding white ensembles, with engagements at the Blackhawk Restaurant and Southmoor Hotel in Chicago and the Park Central Hotel in New York. After 1940 he was less active for a time, but returned to prominence in the 1950s on the West Coast, and appeared in a 1956 motion picture about Goodman. He died in Palm Springs, California.
