From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Jean Goldkette (18 March, 1899 – 24 March, 1962) was a jazz pianist and bandleader. Born in France, he emigrated to the United States in 1911.
He led many jazz and dance bands, of which the best known was his band of 1924 – 1929, which included, at various times, Bix Beiderbecke, Hoagy Carmichael, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Eddie Lang, Frankie Trumbauer, Pee Wee Russell, Steve Brown, and Joe Venuti, among others. In 1927 Paul Whiteman hired away most of Goldkette's better players. Goldkette later helped organize McKinney's Cotton Pickers and the Orange Blossoms, which became famous as the Casa Loma Orchestra. In the 1930s he left jazz to work as a booking agent and classical pianist.
He moved to California in 1961 and the following year died in Santa Monica, California.
