Jean Goldkette

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John Jean Goldkette (18 March 1893 – 24 March 1962) was a jazz pianist and bandleader. Born in Patras, Greece and raised in Russia, he emigrated to the United States in 1910.

He led many jazz and dance bands, of which the best known was his Victor Recording Orchestra 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, Doc Ryker and Joe Venuti, among others. Vocalists included the Keller Sisters and Lynch. In his Jazz Masters of the Thirties, Rex Stewart, a member of Fletcher Henderson's band at the time, writes that the Goldkette band's innovative arrangements and strong rhythm made it the best dance band of its day and "the first original white swing band in jazz history." Jean was also the Music Director for the Detroit Athletic Club for over 20 years, and was also co-owner of the legendary Graystone Ballroom with Charles Horvath, who also performed with the Goldkette Victor Band in its early years. Jean owned his own entertainment company called "Jean Goldkette's Orchestras and Attractions," and worked out of the still-standing Book-Cadillac Hotel in Detroit.

In 1927, Paul Whiteman, the "King of Jazz," hired away most of Goldkette's better players due to Goldkette not being able to meet the payroll for his top-notch musicians. Goldkette later helped organize McKinney's Cotton Pickers and Glen Gray's 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. In the mid 30's, Jean filed for bankruptcy, showing over $200,000 in debts, and only $.40 in assets.

In 1939, he organized the American Symphony Orchestra which debuted at Carnegie Hall, and also married for the first time, to a lady named Lee McQuillen from New York City. Frankie Laine worked as Goldkette's librarian, and also lived with Jean and Lee in their hotel while in New York.

He moved to California in 1961, and the following year died in Santa Barbara, California, of a heart attack. He took a taxi to the hospital by himself, and died that same day. He is buried in the Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, along with other members of the Goldkette family.