Swinging Through Time

It was one of the defining bands of the ’20s even if it is little remembered today. McKinney’s Cotton Pickers began in Springfield, Ohio, as the Synco Trio, and grew in numbers and musical strength. It became a house band at Jean Goldkette’s Graystone Ballroom in Detroit and blossomed under the musical direction of Don Redman. "The sounds bowled me over," wrote Hoagy Carmichael. "The saxophone section played with the power of a steam engine."