Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume
One, 1981-1985, pages 337-339. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,
1998.
Long-standing member of Duke Ellington's Orchestra from the early 1920's. Asked to leave the band in 1951 because of his inability to control his alcohol addiction.
Had a reputation as a "smooth-talking, sharp-dressing pool hustler".