Zack Whyte

Whyte led the Chocolate Beau Brummels in the ‘20s and ‘30s, a successful territory band based in Cincinnati that included at various times such respected musicians as trumpeters Sy Oliver and Roy Eldridge, trombonist Vic Dickenson, and tenor saxophonist Al Sears. Whyte's career began in earnest while attending Wilberforce University in Ohio, where he arranged and played banjo for the band of fellow student Horace Henderson. He began leading his own groups in the early ‘20s; he formed the Chocolate Beau Brummels later in the decade. The band recorded fewer than a dozen sides, all in the Richmond, Indiana studios of the Gennett, Supertone, and Champion labels in 1929. Some of the records were originally issued under the names Eddie Walker and His Band, and Smoke Jackson and His Red Onions. The band's entire recorded output can be heard on the compilation Richmond Rarities 1927-31 (Jazz Oracle Records). ~ Chris Kelsey, All Music Guide