This Missouri native got his musical start playing for the silent movies in the Kansas City area in 1927.  After a tour in a territory band he was back playing the silent movies scene in 1928 but this time it was in Amarillo Texas.  He went on to be a leading tenor man of the big band era and stood unyielding in keeping his own playing personality during periods of drastic musical change in the 1940's and 50's.