Walter Barnes and his Royal Creolians, a Chicago band, played in Chicago until April 23, 1940, when Barnes, eight other members of the band, and one hundred ninety-three others were killed in a fire at Natchez’s Rhythm Night Club. Barnes and his Royal Creolians spent long residencies in Al Capone’s Cotton Club, Cicero, Illinois during the 1920s. From www.redhotjazz.com
