Elmer Snowden’s Washington Black Sox Orchestra was granted a six-month contract at the Hollywood Club in Manhattan in September 1923. The group’s name was changed to the Washingtonians after three months. Due to a dispute over money, the banjoist Snowden was expelled from the band and Duke Ellington was elected the new leader. Ellington and his band played at the club until January 1925, when it was closed for repairs. Bubber Miley, the trumpeter, was the main attraction of the group. He gave the group its distinctive sound with his use the plunger mutes. The “jungle sound” was Miley’s drunken, growling, wah-wah trumpet playing. This style of playing is best illustrated in Ellington’s first theme song East St. Louis Toodle-Oo. The Kentucky Club was established in 1925, after the Hollywood Club reopened in spring 1925. The band then became known as Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra although they also continued to record as the Washingtonians up until 1929. from http://www.redhotjazz.com
