 He played in St. Louis, Missouri, with Dewey Jackson and Fate Marable on riverboats in the 1920s, and then played with Eddie Johnson's Crackerjacks in 1932-33.In the 1930s he lived in Buffalo, New York, where he led his own ensemble and played with Lil Armstrong.He moved to New York City in 1939, and played there with Sammy Price, Eddie Durham, and Cootie Williams.