He was born in Atlanta, Georgia on May 11, 1906, and raised in Cincinnati. In the 1930s and 1940s, he played with some of the premier swing bands, including Luis Russell's, Benny Carter's, Red Allen's, Chick Webb's, Fletcher Henderson's, and Mills Blue Rhythm Band. He also played with Louis Armstrong, who had taken over Russell's band from 1937 to 1940. From 1947 on, he chiefly led his own groups. He recorded extensively both as a sideman and as a leader. He played for a long period in the forties with his ideal partner Red Allen, and then disappeared from the scene for several years.